However, his confident nature and man-management skills can only go so far and he acknowledged that the Italians need something extra if they are to really threaten the continent's best teams.
The former Chelsea boss talked of his side lacking the necessary "intensity" after being eliminated in the last 16 by holders Manchester United on Wednesday following a 2-0 defeat.
"We need something more to win this competition, but I will talk about this with the club. I will open my heart," the Portuguese told reporters.
United manager Alex Ferguson was scathing about his side's first-half performance, but the fact they dispatched the strongest team in Italy with plenty to spare speaks volumes of the widening gulf in class.
"The interesting thing for me is that we played a team close to its maximum potential in terms of their experience and they played to their maximum," Ferguson told reporters after accusing his players of playing "suicide football".
"To get through is a big plus because we will be better in the next round, we can play far better than that."
While four English teams can plan ahead for the quarter-finals, their Italian counterparts are left to go back to the drawing board and work on ways to become more competitive in Europe.
First and foremost, Italian-based defenders need to learn how to deal with crosses into the box. United's Nemanja Vidic and Cristiano Ronaldo both scored from headers on Wednesday with Inter defenders nowhere to be seen.
Serie A is becoming more direct and Inter's physical presence is a big reason why they are heading for fourth straight Serie A title, but they still cannot match the English.
Italian daily Tuttosport made a joke on Thursday about Mourinho calling himself the 'Special One' when he became Chelsea coach five years ago.
"Special Zero, with Mourinho nothing changes," it said.
EQUALLY UNLUCKY
In fact, something has changed. Inter put up more of a fight at Old Trafford than they did at the same stage last year when losing to Liverpool, which led to Roberto Mancini's dismissal.
Inspirational striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic continues to let himself down in the really big games but if his first half header had gone in and not hit the bar, and Adriano's shot had sneaked in off the post, the result could have been different.
AS Roma were equally unlucky against Arsenal on Wednesday when they lost 7-6 on penalties having won the second leg 1-0.
Coach Luciano Spalletti was without a host of first teamers and lost goalscorer Juan to injury in the first half.
The hosts had a good shout for a penalty turned down and had as many chances as the London club, who beat 2007 winners AC Milan in the first knockout round last term.
Juventus were also not outclassed by Chelsea when th
