While most of us had a happy New Year’s Day, it wasn’t so pleasant for Chelsea fans and manager Jose Mourinho. He probably could have thought of a million better ways to spend the first day of 2015 instead of watching his Chelsea side get smacked around in a 5-3 defeat at the hands of the Tottenham Hotspur. After all, it was one of only two times in his managerial career that his side has conceded five goals.
Mourinho has been a winner wherever he has coached, but there are always exceptions to the rule. From time to time, his teams are liable to endure the rare lopsided defeats. With that in mind, let’s take a trip down memory lane and recall some of Mourinho’s most embarrassing defeats.
5. October, 2003
–Real Madrid 3, Porto 1–
Way back in 2003, Mourinho was working as the manager at Porto and on the schedule was a matchup versus one of his future employers, Real Madrid, in a Champions League game. That contest turned out to be very one sided even though Porto jumped out in front early. Porto actually took a 1-0 lead just seven minutes in to that game but then they wound up taking a beating. They conceded three unanswered goals en route to an embarrassing loss in front of their home fans.
4. April, 2013
–Borussia Dortmund 4, Real Madrid 1–
Later on in his career, when Mourinho finally reached Real Madrid, it seemed as though his team was destined for a Champions League final in 2013. However, it wasn’t in the stars. That’s because they didn’t bring their best effort against the German side.
Real Madrid failed to get past the semi-final when they fell behind Borussia Dortmund early and showed little fight after. They ended up losing 4-1 as were doubly embarrassed when Polish striker Robert Lewandowski scored all four goals. He ran circles around the Real Madrid’s back line as they clearly had no answers for him.
To this team, that epic failure stands as the most lopsided Champions League loss of Mourinho’s managerial career. He’s hoping that record doesn’t get broken.
3. February, 2006
–Middlesbrough 3, Chelsea 0–
When Mourinho returned to Stamford Bridge, he never envisioned suffering a loss like the 3-0 drubbing handed to Chelsea by Middlesbrough back in February of 2006. It’s one thing to lose in the EPL, it’s another to get blown out by a middling team that was nowhere near the top of the table. At the same time, Chelsea was trying to compete with Manchester City and Manchester United for top spot in the Premier League table. Needless to say, that loss was a big blow. At the end of the season, Chelsea finished in second place with 83 points, six back of Manchester United, who had 89.
2. January, 2015
–Tottenham 5, Chelsea 3–
It makes sense that the second of only two occasions in which Mourinho’s side has conceded five goals be labeled near the top but considering they showed some fight in battling back to limit the damage to two in terms of goal differential, this defeat can’t be considered the worst of Mourinho’s career. However, the loss again really stings in terms of timing. The Blues had held a lead at the top of the EPL table all season long but with this loss, they’ve finally ceded that cushion as Manchester City caught up with them at the top of the table.
1. November, 2010
–Barcelona 5 vs. Real Madrid 0–
Participating in his first Clasico in front of nearly 100,000 spectators, things fell apart in a hurry for Mourinho and his Madrid side that had won seven straight games heading in to their rivalry game versus Barcelona. Real showed little fight in terms of an actual response on the score sheet in the 5-0 loss, although part of the problem was that Sergio Ramos was forced to leave the game after striking Carles Puyol in the face. Chelsea’s loss to Tottenham was embarrassing but it pales in comparison to a blowout, shutout defeat in the first installment of a rivalry that ultimately helped determine the Spanish league title.
