“I ran away – I went to the bus to say goodbye, and I didn’t even shake one hand,” Mourinho says.

“I wanted to escape. I think if I get on to the bus, if I go back with them to Milan, if I walk into a full San Siro, if I walk into the Duomo [Milan Cathedral] full of people, I think I wouldn’t go to Real Madrid.

“I think the emotion would stop me to go.

“But I wanted to go. I thought it was the right moment. I had to escape.

“Marco was there. If instead of Marco it was Dejan Stankovic, or Diego Milito or Julio Cesar, it would have been the same story.”

In many ways the duality of that moment defines Mourinho, and the question of how he won his two Champions League titles.

Creating a fiercely loyal relationship with his players off the pitch which ensured the side that stepped on the field would be comfortable both running through walls, and with their backs to the wall.

Fifteen years later Mourinho may have mellowed slightly. His man-management skills and star quality may have waned too.

But the ego, confidence and pride in his career-defining Champions League victories remains as strong as ever.

As Mourinho pointedly remarks, both his Porto and Inter triumphs have not been repeated.

“Why am I now here speaking with you?,” he says.

“It is not because I am now at Fenerbahce, or because I won the Premier League with Chelsea.

“It is because I am a double Champions League winner. That is the reason.

“I think there are other teams and clubs that when you do it, other guys [managers] then do it.

“I do this season. You do next season. Three years later, another will come and then people will be even confused in which season you won it.

“You go to Real Madrid, to Barcelona, to Manchester United, to these big teams and maybe people don’t have the same feeling.

“But you go to Porto and you go to you go to Milan and everybody knows.

“2004 Champions League winner, 2010 Champions League winner.

“Who was the coach? Mourinho.”