After the emphatic win over Manchester United, New Manchester United travelled to Portugal for their final Champions League group match against Porto.
With first place in the group already secured, Mourinho had no intention of risking his strongest side. Ishmael, Michael Johnson, Fàbregas, Agüero and Mikel were all included, while the back four consisted of Philipp Lahm, Vidić, Chiellini and Maicon. Almunia started in goal and wore the captain's armband.
The line-up made New Manchester United's priorities obvious. The result at the Estádio do Dragão could not change their position in the group. Beyond pride and the additional prize money attached to a victory, there was very little at stake.
And compared with protecting their lead in the Premier League, another Champions League group-stage win was hardly the club's greatest concern.
Arsenal and Chelsea were both applying relentless pressure domestically.
Arsenal looked more mature than they had the previous season. Hangeland had strengthened their defence, while their attacking football had also improved significantly, helping Thierry Henry establish himself as one of the leading Ballon d'Or candidates.
Chelsea had undergone even more substantial changes, but Ancelotti had done an impressive job of integrating the squad. His 4-3-2-1 Christmas-tree system had been designed around the players available to him, giving the side balance while allowing its strongest individuals to operate in roles that suited them.
In that respect, Chelsea's rebuilding had unquestionably been successful.
Abramovich, however, had never invested merely to produce a competitive team. He wanted trophies, and he wanted Chelsea to win them playing convincing football.
Ancelotti appeared to be taking them in that direction. After an uneven opening period while the new players adapted to one another, Chelsea had grown steadily stronger and were now closing rapidly on the Premier League leaders.
Their Champions League campaign had been similarly impressive. Four wins and a draw from five group matches had already guaranteed qualification, and victory in the final round would secure first place.
Against that backdrop, Mourinho's decision to protect his senior players for the league was perfectly understandable.
Even with such a young side, however, the Red Rebels gave Porto a difficult evening.
Ishmael, Ribéry, Agüero and Messi formed a youthful front four that repeatedly troubled the home defence with their pace and movement.
The problem lay behind them.
Michael Johnson and Fàbregas were both gifted passers, but as a two-man midfield they lacked the physical presence and defensive experience to control Porto's more seasoned central players. Porto gradually gained command of midfield and went into half-time leading 2-1.
Mourinho reacted immediately.
Agüero had struggled to escape Maniche's attention, so he was withdrawn at the interval and replaced by Mikel, giving New Manchester United greater strength and defensive security in the middle.
Mikel was one of the academy's most highly regarded midfield prospects. Some coaches saw shades of Vieira in his combination of physical presence and technique, although he was naturally nowhere near the Arsenal captain's level yet. He remained young, inexperienced and inconsistent, particularly in his defensive positioning.
Even so, his introduction changed the match.
With Mikel joining Fàbregas and Michael Johnson centrally, New Manchester United effectively moved to a three-man midfield. Rather than continuing to fight Porto for short passing combinations through congested central areas, they began bypassing the pressure more frequently.
All three midfielders could cover ground, offer support and strike longer passes, so they looked earlier for Ishmael at centre-forward.
That played directly to his strengths.
Ishmael's height and aerial ability caused Porto serious problems. He competed for almost every high ball played towards him, either bringing teammates into the attack or turning the second phase into a shooting opportunity himself.
On one occasion, he collected possession outside the penalty area and unleashed a ferocious effort that crashed against the crossbar.
New Manchester United were far more dangerous after the tactical change, but Porto responded by becoming increasingly cautious. Luís Fabiano was withdrawn for another midfielder, and the home side concentrated on protecting their advantage rather than chasing a third goal.
The match remained competitive until the end, but the score did not change.
Porto 2-1 New Manchester United.
It was only the Red Rebels' third defeat of the season.
The first had come against Real Madrid in the UEFA Super Cup, another match Mourinho had treated largely as preparation. The second had been their League Cup defeat, when he had again relied heavily on younger players. Now came Porto.
Outsiders were quick to describe all three as matches New Manchester United had effectively sacrificed.
Mourinho refused to accept the description.
"We do not sacrifice matches," he had insisted before kick-off. "If we go onto the pitch, we go there to win. That is part of this club's culture."
He had been equally firm when reporters pointed out the number of reserves and academy players in his team.
"I don't have a team of starters and a team of substitutes. I have a squad. If I select a player, then for that match he is a first-team player."
The message had clearly motivated the youngsters beforehand.
Afterwards, it did little to soften the disappointment.
The dressing room at the Estádio do Dragão was almost completely silent.
For many of the players, this had been a rare Champions League start. They had arrived determined to show Mourinho that they deserved more opportunities, perhaps even a regular place in the side.
Instead, they had lost.
Only narrowly, perhaps, but that hardly mattered to them at that moment.
Even the commentators covering the match had acknowledged that Porto's second-half approach had been extremely conservative. New Manchester United's young side had played well enough to push an experienced opponent deep into its own half, but their lack of maturity had prevented them from turning pressure into a result.
They had lost the match.
What they had gained was experience.
Mourinho stood quietly near the dressing-room entrance, still wearing the familiar coat his wife had given him despite the club's commercial arrangement with Armani.
Nobody understood the potential of these players better than he did.
Give them three years, and many of them might be capable of dominating a side like Porto.
They were not there yet.
Talent could accelerate development, but it could not eliminate experience.
Fàbregas and Michael Johnson were perfect examples.
Mourinho believed both possessed the ability to become successors to Beckham in the long term. Technically, they were already exceptional for their age. Both understood the game, both could pass, and both had personalities strong enough to handle first-team football.
Yet neither could replace Beckham now.
The reason had little to do with technique.
A mature midfielder accumulated thousands of moments over years of football. He learned how a match changed before those changes became obvious. He understood when an opponent was beginning to tire, when the tempo needed to rise, when possession mattered more than penetration and when a seemingly harmless movement was actually creating danger.
Eventually, those experiences became instinct.
A player stopped reacting only to what had already happened and began anticipating what was about to happen.
Fàbregas, Michael Johnson and the others were still learning that.
They needed matches like this one.
There would always be examples of extraordinary teenagers breaking through immediately. Ronaldo Nazário had announced himself in Europe at PSV while still only seventeen.
But football in 1994 and football in 2004 were not the same game.
Ten years earlier, elite teams could still be organised around one exceptional central midfielder controlling vast amounts of space. Players such as Guardiola and Redondo had operated in structures that gave them responsibilities which modern tactical systems increasingly distributed across several positions.
Now teams pressed higher, compressed space more aggressively and demanded much more collective movement.
No midfielder, however brilliant, could simply stand alone at the base of a modern side and control everything.
The same principle applied throughout the pitch.
Modern football was increasingly collective.
That was why this was no longer an era in which one individual, whether Pelé, Maradona or Ronaldo Nazário, could dominate the sport almost by himself.
Eventually, a few players could no longer tolerate the silence and glanced towards Mourinho.
Only then did he step forward and clap his hands sharply.
Everyone looked up.
"I was waiting for someone to say something," Mourinho said. "I thought perhaps one of you had an explanation for me."
He let the words hang for a moment.
"About the performance. About the result. About why we lost."
Michael Johnson shifted slightly in his seat. A couple of others looked ready to speak.
Mourinho raised a hand.
"None of that matters."
The room went still again.
"You are my players. I selected you, which means I accepted responsibility for whatever happened tonight. There are journalists outside who will probably tell everyone that you weren't good enough."
He looked around the room.
"I disagree."
Several heads lifted.
"You played well."
Mourinho repeated it deliberately.
"Yes. You played well."
He allowed the message to settle before continuing.
"Porto protected a lead with eleven experienced players who understood exactly how to slow a match down. They won. Fine. That is football."
"But I don't care about the three points tonight. We had already won the group."
"What matters to me is whether you understand what this match taught you."
The mood in the room began to change.
"Control," Mourinho said. "That is normally one of our strengths."
"In the first half, we lost control of possession and space. In the second half, we recovered both, but we still did not control the rhythm of the game."
He pointed towards the players.
"Tomorrow, after training, every one of you will receive an individual analysis from the coaching staff. I don't want excuses. I want you to understand the difference between having the ball and controlling a football match."
"And then I want you to answer me in your next match."
The disappointment had not disappeared, but the players were listening differently now.
Mourinho glanced at his watch.
"Fifteen minutes."
A few of them looked confused.
"The press conference started fifteen minutes ago," he said, allowing himself a small smile. "Those journalists are sitting there waiting for us to come out looking miserable, blaming each other and complaining about the defeat."
His smile widened slightly.
"I don't intend to give them the satisfaction."
He looked around the dressing room once more.
"So when you leave here, I assume you all know how you're supposed to carry yourselves."
"Yes, boss."
"Understood."
The answers came from around the room.
"Good."
Mourinho turned towards the door.
"I'm going to the press conference. Apparently losing gives me the right to arrive late and be unpleasant."
A few players laughed.
"I intend to make full use of both privileges."
Then he walked out.
Behind him, the young players who had been staring at the floor only minutes earlier were already beginning to talk again.
They were young.
Disappointment came quickly.
Fortunately, so did recovery.
The moment Mourinho stepped into the corridor, however, the relaxed expression disappeared.
He frowned.
Finishing first in the Champions League group was excellent news.
What came next was not.
The winter schedule was approaching.
Between league rounds nineteen and twenty-two, New Manchester United would have to play four matches inside roughly two weeks across Christmas and the New Year.
Cold weather.
Heavy pitches.
Limited recovery time.
And a squad carrying the accumulated fatigue of league, European and international football.
For Mourinho, that would be the real test.
(To be continued.)