However, once the match was completed, it was clear that the question of who was the superior coach should really never have been a question at all.
Despite falling behind to a first-half goal by Willian, Manchester United were clearly the better of the two teams in terms of strategy and coaching, as shown by how United’s backline restricted Eden Hazard and Álvaro Morata, as well as by the fact that Jesse Lingard, who came on as a substitute, scored the winning goal for United.
Conte is certainly a fine coach. He has achieved much at both Juventus and Chelsea. There is no shame in being out coached and out-strategised by the greatest head coach in the history of football.
You can throw any other name at me. Helenio Herrera. Arrigo Sacchi. Alex Ferguson. Pep Guardiola. Jupp Heynckes. Carlo Ancelotti. Bob Paisley. Rinus Michels.
I would still take Mourinho over every single one of those names.
You may say “he only has two Champions League titles”.
Of those names, only Paisley and Ancelotti have more, and Paisley’s came before the 1999-2000 season, which marks the beginning of what I consider the modern Champions League era.
This is because it was the first time after the expansion of the tournament to include non-champions from superior leagues that the Champions League had its current 32-team format.
With regard to Ancelotti, Mourinho led Porto and Inter Milan, two underdog teams, to win the Champions League.
Ancelotti, as well as every other name I mentioned, won with stacked teams expected to win it all.
Porto in 2004 and Inter Milan in 2010 were not among the favourites to win the title at the beginning of the season.
I consider Mourinho’s triumph with Porto as the greatest coaching performance in football history because of the strategic genius shown throughout their campaign in their victories against, on paper, superior teams.
Mourinho has also revolutionised football strategy in a way that only Guardiola, Herrera, and Michels can claim to have done.
His counter-attacking strategies, timely substitutions, and ability to adapt his own team’s tactics to counter those of his next opponent are unmatched in modern football.
He is often criticised for using “ugly” strategies, playing too defensively, and not being conventionally “entertaining” (though defensive-minded tactics can be just as entertaining to watch as offensive-minded ones).
And yet, in spite of the criticism he receives, he holds firm to his tactics, so much so that you can tell that a team is a Mourinho team by their playing style and setup.
This persistence in the face of his detractors has given Mourinho tremendous success.
Eight league titles, two Champions Leagues, two Europa Leagues, five national super cups, four national cups, and four side cups over an 18-year coaching career.
Out of 871 games he has coached, he has won a staggering 570 and drawn 178.
At this rate, Mourinho teams thus average 2.17 points per game.
That’s a number that would have placed him in a Champions League spot in all four major leagues.
This is a career average, not a selection of peak seasons.
Some criticise him for never staying for long at a club – his longest time spent at one club is five years and nine months, which was at Chelsea. Even then, it was in two stints.
But do we hold it against Diego Maradona for playing for six clubs over his career? Or Ronaldo for playing for seven, including direct rivals Barcelona and Real Madrid, as well as Inter Milan and AC Milan?
Furthermore, there have been other great coaches who never spent too long at the same club.
Sacchi’s longest tenure was at AC Milan: five years in two stints.
Guardiola’s longest was his four-year stint in charge of Barcelona.
Hence, it makes no sense to hold Mourinho to a different standard.
Now, it may not necessarily be the case that Mourinho remains the greatest of all time for that much longer.
If Guardiola or Heynckes lead their teams to a Champions League title soon, that would put them in the conversation.
But for now, they still rank behind the touchline wizard from Setúbal, Portugal.
* The views expressed are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of FMT.