Jose Mourinho will always be loved and adored at Inter Milan.
In many ways, his treble-winning achievement at the San Siro felt like the last time that the 'Special One' was truly invincible, descending upon the Serie A giants and conquering everything before him.
Mourinho would, of course, still go onto achieve incredible things at Real Madrid and in his second spell at Chelsea, but it really did feel as though he was walking on water when he held the reins at Inter.
What did Mourinho achieve at Inter Milan?
Besides, what made Mourinho's fleeting spell in northern Italy so historic was the fact that he led Inter to their first European Cup since 1965.
It was one thing to continue Roberto Mancini's streak of winning the Scudetto, but another thing entirely to elevate Inter to the status of European champions, especially when they had to compete against arguably the greatest team of all time.
We are, obviously, talking about none other than Pep Guardiola's Barcelona who Inter famously beat in the 2009/10 semi-finals to lodge themselves in the middle of the Blaugrana's wins in Rome and London.
MILAN, ITALY - APRIL 20: Jose Mourinho, manager of Inter looks on before the UEFA Champions League Semi Final 1st Leg match between Inter Milan and Barcelona at the San Siro on April 20, 2010 in Milan, Italy. (Photo by Julian Finney/Getty Images)
And while the historic clash between Inter and Barca is perhaps best remembered for Mourinho running onto the Camp Nou pitch having ground out a 1-0 defeat that was good enough to win on aggregate, there's a good case to be made that the first leg should be heralded far, far more.
After all, it was in that opening match at the San Siro where Inter truly set the wheels in motion for winning the treble as they swept aside Guardiola's men with a magnificent 3-1 victory.
How did Mourinho defeat prime Barcelona?
Plus, it's a game for which we have an almost unprecedented amount intel on courtesy of an excellent interview that Mourinho conducted with The Coaches' Voice back in 2019.
Across 12 spell-binding minutes, the Portuguese icon simply sat there in front of a tactics board and broke down how he instigated the true magnum opus of his time with the Italian giants.
Offering fascinating levels of insight on how he set up his Inter side to nullify a prime Lionel Messi, as well as all the other supreme Barca talents, Mourinho gave us a better look beneath the bonnet than we've ever had before.
So, go on, be sure to do yourselves a favour and check out the video because to say that Mourinho giving a tactical masterclass is interesting would be the mother of all understatements.
Video: Mourinho explains his tactics to defeat Barca and Messi
You don't happen to fancy making that into an entire series, do you, Jose?
How did Inter vs Barcelona play out?
From exploiting the attack-minded Maxwell and Dani Alves to the best way of keeping Messi quiet, Mourinho really does give an engrossing level of detail on how Inter approached a game that many expected them to lose.
But alas, Mourinho's tactics worked their magic with Pedro's opening goal eventually made to look like a mere consolation strike as Wesley Sneijder, Maicon and Diego Milito all found the back of the net.
And in many ways, that was the final for Inter, because although Bayern Munich put up a fight at the Bernabeu, there was always a quiet understanding that Mourinho's side had already beaten the best team in the competition.
Football - Bayern Munich v Inter Milan 2010 UEFA Champions League Final - Estadio Santiago Bernabeu, Madrid, Spain - 09/10 - 22/5/10
Inter Milan coach Jose Mourinho celebrates winning the Champions League with the trophy
Mandatory Credit: Action Images / Jason Cairnduff
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So no matter what comes of Mourinho's time at AS Roma and where his career takes him in the future, he'll always be able to look back on the day that he defeated arguably the greatest team of all time with huge fondness.
We're just happy to have been given the slightest bit of insight into how he actually pulled it off.
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