for your info: Mourinho vs Barca W3 D3 L7 Real only won 1 time in his 4 seasons in LIGA (other 1 copa delrey and Super copa)
Had a bit of fun reading this thread last night. What a shame it got derailed, as almost every thread was at that time lol. I've actually been looking back at the 2000s quite often lately. Personally, I don't hold the relatively poor European record (compared to their quality) of the likes of Vieira and Henry against them very much anymore. I've come to appreciate the manager factor a lot more. It is so obvious to me now that with Wenger at the helm, neither one ever really stood a chance. It was only the miracle run of '06 that even gave them a chance.
Moreover, in some campaigns he actually delivered when Arsenal got eliminated. In 2000-01 against Valencia as clear example. Arsenal was eliminated but he delivered the goodies. In others he didn't, such as 2003-04 in the quarter finals vs Chelsea (he got subbed out by Wenger; while Pires and DB10 at least created a minimum of three chances each in the other game), relative to the domestic form and what he had done earlier in the campaign against Inter. I'll look at this in more detail later (I think) because at first sight/memory some things look very good (2000-01, 2003-04 until the quarters, 2005-06 until the semis), while other things less glorious (the 2001-02 2nd group stage, next to some of his own team mates).