The last time the Europa League was played here, 13 years ago, Porto strolled to an anticlimactic 1-0 win over Braga. André Villas-Boas was 33 and about to take over at Chelsea after the dismissal of Carlo Ancelotti. He was calm, highly ambitious and had an obvious presence. Comparisons with José Mourinho were understandable and inevitable, but Villas-Boas seemed of a different order to other managers. He talked of a grand plan to compress his managerial career into a decade so he could move on to other things.
He got that bit right. Villas-Boas has not managed since leaving Marseille in 2021 after publicly criticising the club’s recruitment policy. He does not look like returning to the dugout any time soon; he never seemed like one of those football men for whom the game is an addiction. He has been a rally driver and now he is the president of Porto.
