Ruben Amorim smiled, a self-contained, restrained smile, not a deliriously frantic one. The triumph over Liverpool could potentially be the watershed moment of his career. The win that could be a victory; of system, belief, patience and signs of a turnaround. Yet, he knows the wisdom of not being euphoric, of not losing equanimity, even if in his mind he would have felt like sliding along the touchline like Jose Mourinho when his humble Porto FC shocked Manchester United in a Champions League quarterfinal yet.

Mourinho and Amorim are compatriots, yet of varied humour. Amorim is the ice to Mourinho’s fire.

And, Mourinho, more than all other United managers, would confess the trials that await United’s humiliations at Liverpool’s hands. The 3-1 defeat in 2018 accelerated his ouster, which

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