Madrid have upped their game at exactly the right moment and Tuesday's 2-1 comeback victory at 10-man Manchester United sent them through to the last eight of the Champions League 3-2 on aggregate and put them a step closer to a 10th European crown.
NEWSRonaldo ousts United after Nani sees red
Success at Old Trafford came hard on the heels of last Tuesday's 4-2 aggregate victory against Barcelona in the semi-finals of the King's Cup and Madrid followed that up with a 2-1 win at home to their arch rivals in La Liga on Saturday.
"Three victories, what a week!" Madrid's Germany playmaker Mesut Ozil wrote on his Twitter feed.
Madrid are 13 points behind leaders Barça in third in La Liga and have written off their chances of closing the gap over the remaining 12 matches, leaving Europe's elite club competition as the overwhelming priority.
Mourinho certainly rode his luck against United as Madrid were trailing 2-1 on aggregate until Nani's harsh dismissal in the 56 minute transformed the game.
Mourinho was then poised to replace Gonzalo Higuain with strike partner Karim Benzema but Cristiano Ronaldo's 69th-minute goal against his former club edged Madrid in front and defender Pepe was deployed instead.
"Modric was crucial because he changed the match and the sending-off also changed the match because they were left a man down," Mourinho told a news conference after the game.
"Modric gave us creativity and movement. He was thinking about rapid, vertical movement and changed the flow.
"When the equaliser came, I was going to put on Benzema for Higuain. I was going to risk everything. History is full of teams who have got results with 10 men."
"Going through gives us confidence to get the tenth title," Brazil playmaker Kaka told reporters.
"We have not won anything yet but it is a step forward," he added. "In football you never know what will happen and we still have a chance to win a double."
