Mourinho's 'lies' about his time at Madrid

It was during his pre-match press conference for Manchester United's FA Cup quarter-final clash with Brighton & Hove Albion when Mourinho launched the lengthy speech about his record as a manager, which had been called into question following his side's shock Champions League elimination at the hands of Sevilla. 

Although impassioned and largely accurate, the 55-year-old was off the mark about his time in Spain with Real Madrid in which he stated: "When I arrived at Real Madrid, Xabi Alonso, Iker Casillas and Cristiano Ronaldo had reached the quarter-finals of the Champions League. No one else. That is football heritage. These are real statistics".

The truth is not entirely that though. The three he cited certainly knew what it was like to play at this stage of the tournament and beyond. Alonso had reached the final on two ocassions with Liverpool before moving to 'Los Blancos', winning the trophy once, the same as Ronaldo with United, whilst Casillas had also won the Champions League twice in his first two seasons in 2000 and 2001.

In addition, Mourinho boasted more players in his squad with European experience than he cared to let on. In fact, before his arrival in Spain, there were three more experienced footballers with top-level pedigree.

Kaka signed for Madrid in the summer before the Portuguese coach arrived at the Bernabeu and had alredy lifted the trophy with AC Milan in 2007.

Jerzy Dudek, the reserve goalkeeper, was also part of the Champions-League-winning squad of Liverpool in 2005 in that infamous penalty shoot-out against the 'Rossoneri'.

The final player was Raul Albiol, who reached the quarter-final stages with Valencia in the 2006-07 season.

When Mourinho finally took over in the summer of 2010, two further players arrived with European experience too: Ricardo Carvalho and Alvaro Arbeloa, who had enjoyed success in the Champions League for Chelsea and Liverpool respectively. In fact, the two faced off in the quarter-finals in 2009 which saw the 'Blues' go through 7-5 on aggregate.