A 3-3 draw with Real Madrid at the Santiago Bernabéu was almost everything New Manchester United's supporters could have hoped for.
It was only a draw, but the three away goals changed the entire complexion of the tie. Back in Manchester, Mourinho's side knew that any victory would take them through, while a draw of 0-0, 1-1 or 2-2 would also be enough. Even another 3-3 would merely force extra time.
Real Madrid, by contrast, had lost the luxury of calculation.
They would have to come to Manchester and get a result.
Predictably, most of the discussion after the first leg centred on the extraordinary final twenty minutes. Compared with the goalless draw between Chelsea and AC Milan in the other semi-final, the 3-3 at the Bernabéu had been a spectacular advertisement for Champions League football.
And nobody emerged with a bigger reputation than Lionel Messi.
The shy seventeen-year-old Argentine had entered the match after seventy minutes and scored a hat-trick at the Bernabéu. New Manchester United had been behind when he came on, fell behind again later, and still escaped Madrid with a draw because Messi kept finding a way through.
Each goal mattered enormously.
Together, they turned him into one of the most talked-about young players in Europe almost overnight.
Once the media decided a player was the story of the week, there was never any shortage of material.
Old footage resurfaced immediately.
There was Messi's extraordinary breakthrough against Manchester United, when he had dribbled through half the defence and announced himself to English football.
There were the decisive interventions from the 2003-04 season, when a sixteen-year-old repeatedly appeared in important moments despite barely being old enough to play senior football.
There were compilation programmes, newspaper profiles and endless comparisons.
After two seasons of increasingly significant performances, Messi was no longer simply an academy prodigy with unusual talent. He had established himself as one of the outstanding young players in world football.
Even Wayne Rooney, whose move to Manchester United had generated enormous attention, now had serious competition for the title of Europe's most exciting teenager.
Messi was not alone.
That was what made New Manchester United so fascinating.
Ronaldo, Kaká, Curtis, Cesc Fàbregas, Agüero, Ishmael, Michael Johnson and Mikel were all still young enough to improve significantly, while several were already performing at the highest level.
The squad had become so heavily associated with elite young talent that even football-management games were beginning to reflect the reputation.
Information circulating about the next edition of Football Manager suggested that Ronaldo and Kaká had both been given fixed potential ratings of 195, placing them among the handful of players close to the game's theoretical ceiling of 200.
Curtis, Agüero, Ishmael, Messi and Fàbregas were reportedly assigned the game's coveted minus-ten potential range, meaning their eventual ceiling could fall anywhere between 170 and 200 depending on the save.
Michael Johnson and Mikel were both placed in the next tier down at minus-nine.
Across the squad, potential ratings were remarkably high. Even Almunia, one of the least glamorous names in the first-team group, was said to have a potential ability of around 160, while Robben, Ribéry, Terry, Essien and several others sat well above 180.
It was only a game.
Nobody at Newton Heath took the numbers too seriously.
But the reaction outside the club said plenty about how New Manchester United were viewed.
Football Manager supporters quickly began joking that managing the Red Rebels would be the closest thing the new edition had to assembling an entire squad of wonderkids from the opening day.
Some even began campaigning for Sports Interactive to lower the players' loyalty ratings, arguing that otherwise it would be almost impossible to prise any of them away.
Sports Interactive, which had a commercial relationship with New Manchester United, apparently had other ideas.
According to information released around the game, the developers intended to reflect the club's real-life dressing-room culture by giving many New Manchester United players unusually high loyalty ratings.
Curtis, Messi, Terry, Kaká, Essien and Evra were all expected to rank close to the top of the game's scale.
In practical terms, that meant players who were already expensive would also be extremely difficult to unsettle.
Mourinho's profile had risen too.
His managerial attributes were expected to place him comfortably among the five strongest coaches in the game, alongside established names such as Ferguson and Wenger.
That produced a different kind of complaint from players.
Quite a few joked that starting a Premier League save was becoming increasingly unpleasant.
You could spend years scouting wonderkids, only to discover that Mourinho already owned most of them.
It was entertaining trivia, nothing more.
But beneath the jokes was a wider truth.
New Manchester United had become the centre of a broader fascination with young teams across Europe.
Their run to the Champions League semi-finals in their first season in the competition only intensified comparisons with Louis van Gaal's great Ajax side.
Van Gaal himself did not dismiss the comparison.
If anything, he went further.
Asked about it by reporters, the Manchester City manager admitted that he believed New Manchester United possessed greater individual quality than the Ajax side he had once led.
While the English press celebrated, Madrid was dealing with a very different mood.
Stories began leaking almost immediately after the 3-3 draw that Florentino Pérez had been unhappy with the result, and particularly with Del Bosque's management of the final stages.
The board was reportedly frustrated.
Sections of the Bernabéu support were furious.
The central complaint was familiar: how could a squad containing Zidane, Figo, Ronaldo Nazário, Raúl, Roberto Carlos and so many other elite players be in danger of finishing the season without a major trophy?
Del Bosque once again found himself under pressure.
Inside the dressing room, however, the reaction was very different.
Casillas, Raúl, Zidane and several other senior players publicly supported their manager.
"This is probably the most difficult club in the world to manage," Zidane told Marca. "Real Madrid have an extraordinary history, enormous expectations and supporters who demand the highest standard every week. I don't think many coaches could handle this job better than Vicente."
Fernando Hierro, who remained influential around the club after his playing career, also argued that Madrid were going through an inevitable period of transition.
Raúl made similar representations from within the squad.
Their argument was simple.
The team was ageing.
Several younger players were only beginning to emerge.
Performances would inevitably fluctuate while Madrid tried to refresh the squad without abandoning the stars who had built the current era.
Del Bosque, in their view, had handled an extremely difficult situation well.
The first leg against New Manchester United had not been lost because of one disastrous tactical decision.
Madrid had faced a very strong opponent.
That mattered.
The pressure did not ease.
Even Marca, usually the closest thing Real Madrid had to an unofficial public voice, ran a major feature suggesting that Del Bosque's future depended on the second leg.
If Madrid failed to win in Manchester and reach the final, the paper claimed, his position would become almost impossible to defend.
Only by making Real Madrid the first club to retain the Champions League since the competition's rebranding, according to the article, could Del Bosque guarantee his future.
New Manchester United stayed out of it.
Ethan had no interest in fuelling another club's internal crisis, especially when his own organisation was already overloaded.
The commercial department was deep into planning for the summer.
There was the American tour.
The Audi-backed pre-season tournament.
The charity match involving Hollywood celebrities.
All of it formed part of New Manchester United's attempt to establish a serious presence in the United States.
Ethan considered that market too important to treat casually.
On the football side, Mourinho had even less time for Madrid's politics.
His team had returned from Spain with Norwich waiting in the league.
Norwich were bottom, but not yet mathematically doomed.
They had already frustrated New Manchester United with a 1-1 draw earlier in the season and arrived desperate for anything that might keep their survival hopes alive.
Mourinho had other priorities.
With Real Madrid coming to Manchester in midweek, he rested heavily.
Villa, Ishmael, Ribéry and Fàbregas were among those given prominent roles.
Even with so many regular starters missing, Norwich were beaten comfortably.
New Manchester United won 3-0.
One omission attracted particular attention.
Messi was not merely rested from the starting eleven.
He was left out of the matchday squad altogether.
After his hat-trick at the Bernabéu, the implication seemed obvious.
Mourinho was saving him for Real Madrid.
Chelsea kept pace in the title race.
Ancelotti also rotated ahead of the second leg against AC Milan, but his second string still beat Bolton 2-0.
Chelsea therefore remained top.
Arsenal won as well, although less convincingly.
Wenger's side edged West Bromwich Albion 2-1 away from home.
Lehmann made another poor mistake, but Henry rescued Arsenal with a late winner.
Without that goal, the German goalkeeper would almost certainly have faced another week of brutal criticism.
Even victory could not hide the problem forever.
After the match, Wenger publicly acknowledged that Arsenal intended to sign another high-level goalkeeper.
Lehmann was ageing.
His general performances could still be very good.
But the sudden lapses remained.
And at the top level, one mistake could undo months of work.
Arsenal's difficulty was money.
Wenger could identify all the goalkeepers he liked.
Buying one of sufficient quality was another matter.
The transfer market for elite goalkeepers had become expensive, and Arsenal's stadium commitments had left very little flexibility.
Newspaper shortlists were filled with names valued above £10 million.
For a club trying to fund a new stadium while also renegotiating the contracts of its best players, those numbers were painful.
Running a football club was always easier from the outside.
Supporters could demand a new goalkeeper, another centre-back and a creative midfielder in the same summer.
Wenger then had to explain to David Dein where the money was supposed to come from.
Perhaps, he joked privately, Arsenal simply needed someone to find them their own Abramovich.
While Wenger worried about summer recruitment, New Manchester United prepared for Real Madrid.
The atmosphere surrounding Del Bosque's side had deteriorated further since the first leg.
Madrid won 2-0 away at Real Sociedad in La Liga, but even victory did little to calm the criticism.
The board declined to offer Del Bosque any meaningful public protection.
Nobody decisively dismissed the reports that he could leave.
Nobody clarified whether the squad was about to undergo a major overhaul.
Players were therefore left wondering not only about the Champions League, but about who would be coaching them next season and which teammates might still be there.
At the worst possible moment, uncertainty had spread through the club.
It showed in Manchester.
Mourinho returned to the 4-2-3-1 structure that had transformed the closing stages at the Bernabéu.
The attacking quartet was the same: Ronaldo, Kaká and Messi operating behind Drogba.
This time Beckham partnered Essien deeper in midfield, giving New Manchester United both control and physical security.
At home, Mourinho saw no reason to approach Madrid timidly.
This was his ground.
His crowd.
His team had already scored three times at the Bernabéu.
There was no reason to behave as though the defending champions were untouchable.
The visitors might be Real Madrid.
Inside this stadium, they were still the visitors.
Many people expected another spectacular attacking contest.
At the very least, they expected a close match.
Instead, Madrid looked flat.
Their confidence was low.
Several senior players had been asked to play repeatedly through a demanding period, and the sharpness simply was not there.
Passes that normally found feet were misplaced.
Movements arrived half a second late.
Players who usually imposed themselves on matches looked hesitant.
New Manchester United were the opposite.
The front four moved with complete understanding.
Drogba occupied the centre-backs.
Ronaldo stretched one side.
Messi attacked the other.
Kaká kept appearing between midfield and defence.
Behind them, Beckham and Essien controlled the centre of the pitch and supplied a steady stream of possession.
By half-time, Kaká had scored twice.
2-0.
Madrid were in enormous trouble.
Del Bosque changed things during the interval.
Whatever he said, it had an effect.
Real Madrid began the second half far more aggressively and produced several threatening attacks.
For a spell, New Manchester United were forced backwards.
Mourinho expected that.
He had warned his players that Madrid's first response after half-time would be desperate.
Rather than chase another goal immediately, the Red Rebels tightened their shape, absorbed the pressure and waited for the first surge to fade.
Then they attacked again.
Kaká received centrally and lifted his head.
Ronaldo was already moving.
The pass split Madrid's defensive line.
Ronaldo beat the offside trap and raced through.
Casillas came charging out.
Ronaldo did not panic.
He lifted the ball delicately over him.
3-0.
The stadium erupted.
Supporters embraced strangers.
Scarves went into the air.
The noise became almost physical.
There was still time left.
Technically, the tie was not over.
Emotionally, everyone inside the ground knew what had just happened.
Real Madrid now needed three goals merely to force extra time.
Against this New Manchester United side, in this stadium, it was almost impossible to imagine.
Mourinho felt it too.
For once, he abandoned all pretence of restraint.
He charged out of the technical area, celebrating towards the crowd before the fourth official hurried over and ordered him back.
The supporters loved it.
Their roar only grew louder.
Figo eventually pulled one back for Madrid late in the match.
It changed nothing.
New Manchester United 3-1 Real Madrid.
Aggregate score: 6-4.
The defending European champions were out.
The Red Rebels were going to the Champions League final.
For several minutes after the whistle, the stadium became a wall of noise.
The club anthem rolled around the stands.
Supporters sang until their voices cracked.
Players embraced one another across the pitch.
Some simply stood still and stared into the crowd.
This was New Manchester United's first season in the Champions League.
Their first.
And they had reached the final.
Only then did the scale of it seem to register fully with Ethan.
Six years earlier, the club had been little more than an idea and a collection of people stubborn enough to believe in it.
Now they were one match away from becoming champions of Europe.
They had advanced so quickly that there had barely been time to appreciate each step.
On the other side of the draw, there would be no all-English final.
AC Milan beat Chelsea 1-0 at the San Siro, Palacio scoring inside the opening six minutes.
The former New Manchester United forward had struck again on the biggest stage.
Chelsea could not respond.
After the goalless first leg at Stamford Bridge, Milan's 1-0 victory sent the Rossoneri through to the final.
The English press had spent days dreaming of an all-Premier League showpiece.
It would not happen.
Still, New Manchester United's presence gave England a finalist, which was more than enough for the national media to celebrate.
The following morning, however, even New Manchester United's qualification was pushed away from the front pages.
Real Madrid made an announcement.
Vicente del Bosque would not be offered a new contract.
At the end of the season, the manager who had delivered major trophies year after year would leave the club.
The news exploded across Europe.
It overwhelmed almost every other football story of the day.
Including one transfer that, under normal circumstances, would have dominated the headlines.
(To be continued.)
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