Mourinho’s first games

Jose Mourinho takes charge of his first Premier League game as Manchester United manager at Bournemouth this weekend – but how has he fared in his opening league games with previous clubs?

The new United boss will be eager to get off to a fast start after laying out his plans for Premier League title glory.

But, while he’s had success in his opening games with Chelsea and Porto, Mourinho teams haven’t always hit the ground running…

Chelsea 2-0 Hull City – August 18, 2013, Premier League

Mourinho’s second spell at Chelsea began with a win thanks to two early goals at Stamford Bridge. Kevin De Bruyne set up Oscar to score before Frank Lampard’s free-kick doubled the lead. Lampard was one of three survivors from Mourinho’s first ever Chelsea game, the others being John Terry and Petr Cech, and the fans revelled in their manager’s return.

What happened next? Mourinho maintained his unbeaten home league record at Stamford Bridge until April but away defeats proved costly to their title ambitions. The Portuguese sought to play down their chances but Chelsea were well in the race before losing three times in six games in the spring, finishing third behind Manchester City and Liverpool.

Real Mallorca 0-0 Real Madrid – August 29, 2010, La Liga

Those who feared Mourinho would compromise Real Madrid’s trademark swagger were given ammunition as Mallorca held his side to a goalless draw. “No one can say we didn’t create chances,” said Mourinho, but that wasn’t enough to get the goal let alone the three points and to make matters worse, Cristiano Ronaldo picked up an injury.

What happened next? “There is a big difference between the finished product and a team in construction like we are,” said Mourinho afterwards. As it turned out, Real Madrid fell only four points short of Barcelona in La Liga, although they were also knocked out of the Champions League by their great rivals at the semi-final stage.

Sampdoria 1-1 Inter Milan – …

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