Jose Mourinho finally sent former player apology decades after major Champions League decision

Two decades after making one of the bravest decisions of his young managerial career, Jose Mourinho apologised to one of his former players for leaving him out of the biggest game in club football.

Back in the summer of 2004, Porto defied the odds to become the champions of Europe.

Goals from Deco, Dmitri Alenichev and Carlos Alberto in the final against Monaco clinched a historic Champions League trophy in what was Mourinho's final match in charge before his departure to Chelsea.

It was a memorable campaign in Europe for the Portuguese outfit, with striker Benni McCarthy playing a crucial role in their journey to the final.

McCarthy, who scored 25 goals across the 2003-04 season, memorably scored a brace in their last 16 clash against Manchester United, which also marked the first European match at the Estadio do Dragao.

However, the in-form forward must have been surprised when Mourinho decided to start Carlos Alberto for the final.

McCarthy was left out of Porto's starting XI for their clash against Monaco. Image credit: Getty

McCarthy was eventually brought on in the second-half, becoming the first and only South African footballer to win the Champions League, while Alberto scored the crucial opener.

The call to drop McCarthy clearly weighed heavily on Mourinho. Twenty years later, he apologised in an Instagram post and explained the thinking behind one of the boldest decisions of his managerial career.

“I am sorry @bennimac17 to leave you on the bench, but I had a feeling the crazy kid @calberto_oficial was going to score,” he wrote.

“Missing the meals on the team bus. Hope we can all meet on 26 May 2029 and celebrate 25 years of incredible history. Take care, old guys.”

Benni McCarthy opens up on Mourinho's decision to drop him for Champions League final

There are no hard feelings between the pair. In the past, McCarthy has praised Mourinho for his "unbelievable" man-management skills.

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He also gave an insight into how he reacted when Mourinho delivered the news that Carlos Alberto would start in his place for the game against Monaco.

“I was a team player," he said, as per GOAL. "For example, in the Champions League final, if I were an a**hole, I would have just said, like, ‘No, I want to play. I’ve got the team to where I was, but if I had to be sacrificed, I’d take it.

"I wasn’t bigger than the team. I wasn’t bigger than anybody. If the manager feels that that’s probably the best thing to do, and then, yeah, I take it. I wasn't happy, but I took it because it’s in the best interest of the team, and I think that’s what was respected more than anything else when it comes to that.

"I think that’s why he will always speak very highly of me," added McCarthy. "Because I wasn’t a selfish player. I didn’t make it about me."