London - Ten years ago, José Mourinho set off down the sideline on the big stage for the first time, his celebratory sprint serving as the indelible moment of Porto's upset of Manchester United in the Champions League. In the years since, Mourinho has occasionally repeated variations of the runaway-train act - including this season, when his Chelsea team rallied against Paris Saint-Germain in the quarterfinals - making it a quirky part of the so-called Special One's mystique.
On Wednesday, however, Mourinho had nowhere to run. He could only watch, like a sprinter whose relay partner had dropped the baton, staring longingly to his right as his opposing manager, Atlético Madrid's Diego Simeone, took off instead.
Simeone almost surely did not consider the symmetry of his own victory dash. But it seemed fitting that after Arda Turan scored Atlético's third goal of the night to effectively seal the Spanish club's place in the Champions League final, Simeone scampered while Mourinho fumed.
Ultimately, even Mourinho would have to admit Atlético deserves its trip to Lisbon for the May 24 final after its commanding 3-1 victory at Stamford Bridge. Atlético has long been known as the second team in Madrid - an eternal understudy to Real Madrid - but Los Rojiblancos and their red-and-white-stripe-wearing fans will have a chance to turn the Spanish capital on its head by beating their rivals in the first same-city final in Champions League history.
Chelsea, which was bidding to reach its second final in three years, will now focus on a last-gasp effort to win England's Premier League while ruing a defensive breakdown that allowed Atlético to seize control of the two-legged tie just before halftime on Wednesday.
The Blues, who forged a scoreless draw in the first leg last week, were in position to advance after Fernando Torres scored in the 36th minute. Torres did not celebrate in a show of respect to Atlético, his former club, but the fans at Stamford Bridge roared all the same. With the goal in hand, the fans knew, Chelsea could drop back and defend, a strategy that played to Mourinho's tactical strength.
But just before halftime, Mourinho's back line made a critical lapse. Atlético's Tiago lashed a diagonal ball from left to right and Juanfran one-touched a soft pass back across the face of the goal, where Adrian Lopez finished to make the score 1-1. Somehow, all of Chelsea's defenders were caught ball-watching at the worst possible moment.
The away goal meant that Atlético held the coveted tiebreaker, and Chelsea had little choice but to press for an outright victory in the second half. Simeone did not retreat, though, and as Atlético continued to attack, the star striker Diego Costa drew a penalty kick - after a woeful foul from Samuel Eto'o - then converted from the spot to put Chelsea on the brink. When Turan then tapped in his own rebound off the crossbar from close range with 18 minutes to go, it was settled.
Simeone took off running. Mourinho stood still.
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Amzing Moment: Atlético Bolts Past Chelsea and Mourinho