Any Porto in a storm: how Mourinho caused Casillas' Madrid downfall

There is a certain twisted irony that Jose Mourinho and Iker Casillas should be reunited at a ground that gave birth to ‘the Special One’, and which now serves as the graveyard for one of his great opposers. The Spanish goalkeeping icon is now playing out the final days of his career at Porto, in the shadow of the man who began his downfall. When Mourinho arrived at Real Madrid in 2010, newly crowned world champion Casillas was at his peak. Since then he has been cast out and cut adrift.

In the belly of Estadio do Dragao lie countless reminders of Mourinho’s enduring legacy, in posters, mosaics and silverware, and now the latest chapter of another of his great battles will be written on the Porto turf, as the Chelsea boss takes his sluggish side to Oporto to take on both his old club and his old foe – though he might wonder if Casillas's place, like his own legacy in Portugal’s second city, would be better consigned to a museum. It was he who first questioned the goalkeeper’s ability, first challenged his authority and first dropped him from the Madrid starting XI. Now they meet again.

“Would I do anything differently if I had the chance to do the past three years over again,” pondered Mourinho as time ran out on his reign at Madrid, his tail not far enough between his legs to deny him a parting shot at the man he blamed for his unsuccessful stay. “I should have brought in Diego Lopez after my first year. We didn't do enough to sign him. It's a real shame.”