Jose Mourinho's teams have a curious history of going down to 10 men in big matches. You can argue whether or not the UEFA Super Cup is a big match, but Mourinho's Chelsea played at a disadvantage for the final 35 minutes of the match and they still managed to take a lead and come within a last-gasp equalizer of winning it before penalties, where it went the other way.
Ramires earned that disadvantage by running through the ball and Mario Gotze like Kool-Aid Man through a brick wall while already on a yellow. But that didn't stop Mourinho from blaming UEFA and the referee for sending him off and booking six other Chelsea players while Bayern only saw two yellows in the game.
From the Guardian:
Mourinho reacted with resignation at the end, telling broadcasters that "this is my history with Uefa for a long, long time" and maintaining that theme in his subsequent media duties.
"I have a fantastic experience of playing with 10 men in Uefa matches," he said. "I have a great experience. So I could react. I could coach my players in a way where, even with 10 men, even very, very tired, they could compete and find an opportunity to score a goal. In the end of the game, with everybody absolutely tired, they gave absolutely everything. I think my experience of playing with 10 men gave us a hand." [...]
"I played two or three times with 10 men against Bar�a. I went to Inter and played a Champions League semi-final, one hour, with 10 men against Barcelona. I go to Real Madrid, I played again a Champions League semi-final with 10 men.
"Now I come back to Chelsea and played a Super Cup final with 10 men again, and go to analyse the actions and make your conclusions. I'm unlucky. Just that."
Mourinho has been tracking this trend for several years now. In 2011, he said that Pep Guardiola's old club, Barcelona, benefited from their partnership with UNICEF. Yes, the children's charity. He also said that both of Guardiola's Champions League titles were tainted by favorable refereeing. "One day I would like to see Josep Guardiola win this championship properly,? he concluded.
And now it seems the UEFA Super Cup has renewed those sentiments. Yes, even the UNICEF connection. As Mourinho has undoubtedly discovered by now, Bayern played a charity match in 2005 that raised $66,000 for UNICEF. The conspiracy runs deep.
To help fuel Mourinho's persecution complex, Franck Ribery celebrated his goal in the 47th minute by sharing an intense embrace with Guardiola and, according to the Guardian, telling him the goal was for him and "against Mourinho."
But before Mourinho starts tying all of this to a nonexistent office worker called Pepe Silva, he might want to breathe deep and take in the wisdom of one of his own players, David Luiz...
"Sometimes we need to lose to win in the future," Luiz told teammate Romelu Lukaku via Instagram after the young striker failed to convert the final penalty of the shootout. Conspiracy or not, Chelsea nearly beat the best team in Europe with 10 men. That should be a confidence boost worth more than a silver cup at this point in the season.
Previously: Jose Mourinho argues his number of wins against Pep Guardiola, concedes he might be wrong
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