Reflecting on his tenure at Real Madrid ahead of the match in Lisboa, José Mourinho remarked, “After three hard, intense, and almost violent years, the best thing was to leave.” Some veterans recount their experiences in Vietnam with less post-traumatic stress than that conveyed in his tone. What transpired was less a sporting project and more a relentless exercise in survival. The Portuguese manager’s statements brought to mind the acerbic and humorous novel by Frédéric Beigbeder, El amor dura tres años (Love Lasts Three Years), which outlines a cynical timeline of relationships: the first year is for buying furniture, the second for rearranging it, and the third for dividing it up. Mourinho and Madrid raced through their own stages with the blistering speed of a counterattack led by Özil and Cristiano.
The inaugural season was marked by a declaration of eternal love, a united front forged in the crucible of competition against Guardiola‘s Barça. It was a period of initial euphoria and shared ambition, setting the stage for a battle that would define an era in Spanish football. The collective focus was singular, with every tactical move and public statement designed to challenge the dominance of their arch-rival.
The Unraveling of a Shared Vision
By the second year, the once-solid foundation began to show significant cracks. The process of rearranging the proverbial furniture commenced, involving internal tensions, strategic disagreements, and a palpable shift in the atmosphere surrounding the club. The intensity that initially fueled their campaign started to morph into a strain, testing the resilience of both the manager and the institution.
The final, third chapter was inevitably dedicated to the division. What began as a grand alliance concluded with a necessary, if painful, separation. The accumulated pressure of those “hard, intense, and almost violent years,” as Mourinho himself described them, ultimately made a parting of ways the only viable conclusion. Their journey together, condensed into a mere thirty-six months, burned with a fierce but unsustainable intensity, leaving a complex legacy in its wake.