This season's Inter, who now head to the Champions League final seeking an unprecedented treble for an Italian club, are radically different to the side which Mourinho guided to the scudetto in his first season in charge last term.
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But in the sanctuary of Inter's training ground Mourinho has a very different relationship with his players and portrays himself as a worker bee, buzzing about for the good of the team.
"I don't think I'm a phenomenon, but I have worked hard to help my team. I have never cried, I have always worked hard to get results with my players," Mourinho said.
It is easy to see why he would be so sought after having won a league title which was much trickier than last term's triumph.
Samuel Eto'o, Diego Milito, Thiago Motta, Lucio and Wesley Sneijder all arrived and all became important regulars.
Mourinho brilliantly turned the loss of Ibrahimovic into a positive by broadening Inter's style of play and interchanging between two men upfront and a three-pronged attack as needs arose, with Goran Pandev's arrival in January also helping.
Eto'o struggled slightly but it did not matter as Milito banged in goal after goal and inventive playmaker Sneijder showed how hasty Real had been to show him the door.
A sudden rush of draws in February slashed their nine-point lead and a bruising defeat against title rivals AS Roma in March meant the path to the scudetto was out of Inter's hands.
"We have full confidence in ourselves and now we have this great manager and he can transform the team in any way," midfielder Sulley Muntari told Reuters.
