Chelsea reunion is Mourinho's chance to show he is still a big-game winner

It was a cheeky chant from those more accustomed to serenading Jose Mourinho. “You’re not special any more,” chorused some of the Stamford Bridge faithful. It was October, Chelsea were on their way to a 4-0 win over Manchester United and Mourinho was suffering his heaviest defeat since Real Madrid’s 5-0 evisceration at Barcelona’s hands in 2010.

A man as intensely competitive and proud as Mourinho will approach Monday’s rematch with a point to prove, even if he insists otherwise. Truth be told, he has more than one. Mourinho’s special-ness was not purely the product of his trophy-winning habit, and knocking Chelsea out of the FA Cup would keep him on course to win four, including the Community Shield, in his debut campaign at Old Trafford.

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It came because he tended to flourish in the toughest tests. It was how he proved his superiority, when the stakes were highest and when he went mano-a-mano against other elite managers. His first spell in England was notable for winning records against Sir Alex Ferguson, Rafa Benitez and Arsene Wenger. In his second stint at Chelsea, he won more than he lost against Louis van Gaal, David Moyes, Brendan Rodgers, Mauricio Pochettino and, inevitably, Wenger.

Then consider his time at Old Trafford. Mourinho can cite the EFL Cup as proof he can deliver when the spotlight shines at its hottest. He took his extraordinary record in finals to 11 wins in 13 attempts. He can cite extending his unbeaten, almost immaculate record against Pochettino.

But while United’s revival since Mourinho’s chastening return to Stamford Bridge and a subsequent defeat to Fenerbahce 10 days later can feel real, there would be more substance to support those claims if he could rediscover that ability to beat the best.

On the face of it, the numbers are hugely impressive. United are unbeaten in 17 league games, the longest undefeated run anyone has mustered this season. They have only lost once in 28 in all competitions and even that defeat, against Hull, was rendered less relevant; not because Mourinho disputed the result because he was unhappy at the award of a penalty against his team, but because United had won the first leg of their EFL Cup semi-final and progressed to Wembley nonetheless.

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However, because the fixture list has kept them away from most of the contenders for months, United’s list of victims is less stirring. They beat a below-par Tottenham. They overcame a weakened Manchester City side in the EFL Cup. And, 45 games into their season, that is the sum total of their triumphs against top-seven Premier League sides.

That has mattered less in four months of seeming progress than home draws against underdogs such as Bournemouth, Burnley and Hull. It assumes a greater importance in the last two months of the season.

April and May are shaping up to be obstacle courses featuring sizeable barriers to success. If United are to win the FA Cup, they will very probably have to beat three of Chelsea, Arsenal, Tottenham and City. If they are to lift the Europa League, they may have to overcome Roma. And if they are to secure a top-four finish, they will have to do it the hard way.

Their last nine league games will include meetings with Everton, Chelsea, Arsenal, Tottenham and City, three of them away from home. Draws are unlikely to be sufficient for a team playing catch-up. The FA Cup may seem the smallest priority of all for a manager who has already secured silverware and is in two other competitions which offer a route back into the Champions League.

Yet it can seem a dress rehearsal, a chance for Mourinho to resume the guise of the strategist supreme and outwit another of his fellow managerial Galacticos. So far, only Pochettino has found a way of unlocking Antonio Conte’s 3-4-2-1 when the Chelsea coach picked his premier players. Emulating him should the sort of challenge that ought to appeal to Mourinho. Restoring a dented reputation at a place where he used to be worshipped is a further incentive to excel.

Certainly, another four-goal defeat would be hugely damaging. He was critical of Manuel Pellegrini for fielding a bunch of teenagers when City lost 5-1 at Chelsea in last season’s FA Cup. Like their neighbours then, United have an eye on a European tie now. Given the eventual prize, the reunion with Rostov could seem the biggest game of their week.

But Mourinho has forged himself an identity in his long (almost) unbeaten run as a manager who takes every game seriously. This is a season that could stretch to 66 matches and he is seeking vindication through a sense of constant purpose. But somewhere along the line, he could do with restoring the sense that he emerges triumphant on the big occasions, rather than simply avoiding defeat against inferiors with great regularity.