Reaching the UEFA Cup semi-finals undoubtedly made New Manchester United the biggest dark horse of the competition. The other three teams were Lazio from Italy, Porto from Portugal, and Celtic from Scotland.
Martin O'Neill's side defeated the formidable Reds 2-0 in a classic match at Anfield. The victory was particularly humiliating for Liverpool because Djibril Cissé had spat at Celtic supporters in the first leg, earning himself a heavy fine from UEFA.
The incident also damaged Liverpool's image while further boosting Celtic's morale. At Anfield, Celtic practically overwhelmed the Reds.
The day after all four quarter-final ties had concluded, UEFA held the semi-final draw.
New Manchester United were drawn against Lazio, while Celtic would face Porto.
Compared with the UEFA Cup, however, the Champions League draw naturally attracted even more attention.
The most anticipated tie was undoubtedly Real Madrid against Manchester United.
This season's Champions League quarter-finals were dominated by Serie A and La Liga, with three clubs from each league reaching the last eight. England had only Manchester United remaining, while the final place belonged to Ajax from the Netherlands.
In the end, only two Manchester clubs remained across Europe's two major competitions.
What surprised everyone most was that nobody had expected a team from England's second tier to defeat strong opponents one after another and reach the UEFA Cup semi-finals.
It was truly astonishing.
Even the most optimistic English media, however, had to admit that New Manchester United's run might end in the semi-finals, because standing in their way were the immensely powerful Lazio.
Stam, Mihajlović, Favalli, Stanković, Simeone, Fiore, Simone Inzaghi, Chiesa, and the "Little Flea" Claudio López.
Their manager was Roberto Mancini, who would later go on to manage Inter Milan and Manchester City.
Just looking at that list of famous names was enough to understand Lazio's strength.
There was no doubt that many of New Manchester United's players would also become top-class stars in the future, but for now, compared with these already established names, they were still merely a group of highly promising young players.
Worse still, although the crucial first leg would be played at home, several important players were suspended.
Kaká and Juninho were among them.
Both would miss the match after accumulating yellow cards.
As the season progressed, the team's dependence on Juninho was no longer as severe as it had been at the beginning of the campaign.
The emergence of De Rossi and Redondo gave Mourinho more options when it came to organising the midfield, but one was still very young and the other was already approaching the end of his career. Neither could completely replicate Juninho's role.
Kaká's absence was an even bigger headache.
If Juninho was the team's creative hub, then Kaká was undoubtedly the attacking core in the final third.
This season, Kaká had produced a dazzling run of performances, overturning many people's concerns that his form might decline after the World Cup.
Part of that was due to the support of the lab and coaching staff, but Kaká's own hard work and ability were equally important.
At present, the Brazilian was an undisputed starter for New Manchester United and the commander of their attack.
He was the most indispensable member of the Magic Four.
Up front, Mourinho still had Drogba and Villa.
On the wings, Hleb, Robben, Cristiano Ronaldo, Ribéry, and Palacio were all available, while Villa could also operate out wide.
But in Kaká's position, neither Ribéry nor Palacio could replace the role the Brazilian played in the team.
The suspension of two key players naturally made people worry about Mourinho's side.
At the same time, the media were all speculating about what tactical approach Mourinho would adopt against such a formidable Lazio team.
...
There were three weeks between the UEFA Cup quarter-finals and semi-finals.
During those three weeks, however, New Manchester United had no opportunity to rest.
They had to play six matches in three weeks, including an FA Cup semi-final.
Two league fixtures had previously been postponed, and it was precisely because of those games in hand that New Manchester United currently sat third in the First Division, one point behind second-placed Leicester City and eight points behind leaders Portsmouth.
The gap looked significant, but Mourinho did not believe it was insurmountable.
Both teams still had several crucial fixtures ahead.
Before facing Lazio, New Manchester United would play Sheffield United and Leicester City, both at home.
Then, after the two-legged UEFA Cup semi-final, they would face Portsmouth at Old Trafford.
Those three matches would determine the destination of the league title.
Portsmouth also faced a difficult run-in.
In their remaining seven league fixtures, they still had four formidable opponents to face, New Manchester United, Wolves, Reading, and Sheffield United.
The latter three were all fighting for places in the promotion play-offs and would battle desperately against Portsmouth.
Two of those matches would also be away from home, which was another disadvantage for Portsmouth.
Because of this, Mourinho declared in an interview that Portsmouth would definitely drop points.
Although their attacking ability was excellent, their defence had obvious weaknesses.
Wolves, Reading, and Sheffield United were all strong on the counter-attack, and with promotion to the Premier League at stake, which team would not fight with everything they had?
As for his own side, Mourinho believed there were no internal problems.
The atmosphere was excellent, morale was high, and having already reached both the UEFA Cup semi-finals and FA Cup semi-finals, they were fully capable of winning both competitions.
"What about the First Division? You're currently eight points behind Portsmouth!" a reporter reminded him.
Mourinho smiled.
"I've said it before. Portsmouth will make mistakes. They absolutely, absolutely will make mistakes.
"And once they do, we'll overtake them.
"Remember, we still have to play them at home, and we've never lost at home.
"I think Portsmouth know that too."
"You always seem to have so much confidence in your team!"
"Of course," Mourinho replied without hesitation.
"We've reached the UEFA Cup semi-finals.
"We've reached the FA Cup semi-finals.
"People outside the club already say we're playing at Premier League level, and we deserve to be in the Premier League.
"But first, we have to beat every opponent still in front of us.
"Including Portsmouth."
Ahead of the 42nd round of league fixtures, Mourinho repeatedly stressed that Portsmouth would make mistakes.
Because of the FA Cup, New Manchester United's league match that weekend was moved forward by a day.
They travelled to face 16th-placed Walsall.
Even though Mourinho rested players for the FA Cup semi-final and also used the match to prepare tactically for Lazio, leaving Kaká and Juninho in Manchester and replacing them with Ribéry and De Rossi, New Manchester United still secured a convincing 4-0 victory.
After the match, Mourinho once again stressed that his team would continue beating every opponent in order to put pressure on Portsmouth.
"You'd better not make a mistake.
"Because if you even glance over your shoulder, we'll be right there to drag you down!"
Unfortunately for Mourinho, Portsmouth survived fierce resistance from Reading at home and still managed to secure a crucial victory.
They scored twice early in the match and established a clear advantage.
Mourinho ignored that.
Instead, he focused entirely on how Reading had put Portsmouth under enormous pressure in the second half and even pulled one goal back.
He argued that other teams should approach Portsmouth in exactly the same way.
"If they hadn't been lucky, they'd be second in the league right now, and we'd be first!"
Then Mourinho smiled again.
"I hope they're just as lucky in their next match."
...
New Manchester United's FA Cup semi-final against Southampton was played at Old Trafford.
Southampton approached the match very cautiously.
Their attacking strength was not particularly impressive, but their defence was excellent.
They averaged only around one goal per match in the Premier League, and their current eighth-place position owed much more to their defensive stability.
Their record also included an astonishing twelve draws.
Southampton were a strong and balanced side, but relatively speaking, their defence was clearly their greatest strength.
Playing away from home, Mourinho was certain they would adopt a defensive counter-attacking approach.
For this match, Mourinho had rested several key players in the previous league fixture.
Now he named a full-strength side.
Drogba started up front.
Cristiano Ronaldo and Robben played on the wings.
Kaká operated as the attacking midfielder.
Juninho and Essien formed the double pivot.
The back four, from left to right, consisted of Evra, Vidić, Curtis, and Kolo Touré.
Čech started in goal.
From the very first minute at Old Trafford, New Manchester United launched a fierce assault on Southampton.
The Magic Four in the final third applied relentless pressure, with both wings constantly creating serious problems for Southampton's defence.
In the 23rd minute, Robben and Cristiano Ronaldo switched positions, with Robben moving over to the left.
He drove aggressively past the opposing full-back and delivered a cross from the byline.
Drogba's coordination with his teammates was equally excellent.
As Robben made his powerful run down the flank, Drogba planted himself firmly inside the penalty area, using his physical strength to hold off the defender and win the first header.
He flicked the ball backwards.
Kaká, who had been waiting outside the box and had attracted little attention from Southampton's defenders, suddenly surged forward from midfield to meet the second ball.
Without taking a touch, he struck it first time on the volley.
The goalkeeper's view was momentarily blocked by his own teammates.
By the time he reacted, the ball had already hit the back of the net.
1-0!
After taking the lead, New Manchester United slowed their attacks and dropped their defensive line slightly.
It was clearly a deliberate attempt to draw Southampton forward.
The visitors had no other choice.
This was a single-elimination match, and once they fell behind, they had to attack.
But pushing forward inevitably left more space in their defence for New Manchester United to exploit on the counter.
In the 51st minute, New Manchester United won possession in midfield.
Robben and Cristiano Ronaldo immediately used their pace to launch a counter-attack.
The pair combined brilliantly inside Southampton's penalty area and scored another goal.
2-0!
At that point, the outcome of the match was no longer in doubt.
(To be continued.)