José Mourinho takes charge of his first Premier League home game as Manchester United manager on Friday night when the Reds welcome Southampton to Old Trafford.
As we all know, the ‘Special One’ is renowned for making his sides unbeatable at home and this has been the bedrock of his successful spells at the likes of Porto, Chelsea, Inter Milan and Real Madrid.
It all began in October 2000 during a brief spell in charge of Benfica and more than a decade and 186 games later, Mourinho had still only lost one league game while taking charge of five different clubs!
Even after a tumultuous end to his second spell at Chelsea, Mourinho’s home defeats can still be counted on two hands and United fans will be hoping that he will be the man who can turn Old Trafford back into a fortress after some rocky times under David Moyes and Louis van Gaal.
Here’s a closer, more detailed look at his record at home:
Benfica (4-1-0)
Mourinho took over from Jupp Heynckes just four weeks into the new Portuguese league season in September 2000, but only managed five home league games – drawing the first before winning the next four.
His last home league game was a 3-0 thumping of crosstown rivals Sporting and afterwards Mourinho demanded a contract extension. It was refused and Mourinho resigned on the spot.
Uniao de Leiria (7-3-0)
Once again, Mourinho was unbeaten during his home games in charge of Leiria, once again drawing the first against Santa Clara.
Top sides such as Sporting and Benfica were held to draws during Mourinho’s tenure and he went on a run of six consecutive home victories before being handpicked to become Porto manager in January 2002.
Porto (38-2-1)
Mourinho soon tasted his first home defeat, with the nine-men Dragons losing 3-2 to Beira-Mar soon after he took charge.
However, that proved to be the only blemish on his record with the club where he would make his name – the ‘Special One’ would leave for Chelsea with two European trophies and a 93% win percentage at home in the league.
Chelsea (46-14-0)
Mourinho continued his fearsome home record at Stamford Bridge, transforming it into a fortress. The Blues only conceded six goals at home as they stormed to the title in Mourinho’s first season in charge.
They would go unbeaten for the best part of two seasons, before Mourinho bowed out after a 0-0 draw against Blackburn in the league due to disagreements with owner Roman Abramovich.
Inter Milan (29-9-0)
Mourinho’s unbeaten home run continued in Italy – with the record extended beyond the 100 mark during his two-year stay in Milan.
Not only did Mourinho win the Serie A twice during his time in charge, he also brought home the Champions League after beating Bayern Munich in Madrid – where he would soon be managing.
Real Madrid (49-5-3)
Mourinho’s near ten-year unbeaten run finally came to an end in April 2011, when Sporting Gijon beat Los Blancos 1-0 in the Bernabeu.
However, Real would only suffer two more home defeats during his stint in the Spanish capital – even going unbeaten in the 2012-13 season.
Chelsea (33-8-5)
Mourinho then went on to extend his unbeaten run at Stamford Bridge in his second stint with Chelsea and it ran until his 78th home game in charge – when relegation-threatened Sunderland snatched victory in April 2014.
The Blues then went unbeaten through their title-winning 2014-15 season before their horrid start last season. They lost four times at home before Christmas and their league form saw Mourinho sacked in December.
Total (206-42-9)
Despite the blemish towards the end of his second spell at Chelsea, Mourinho still possesses a winning percentage of over 80 per cent when his sides play at home, which will be music to the ears of United fans.