Assistant to Bobby Robson at Camp Nou in the late 1990s when Barcelona coach Pep Guardiola was an influential midfielder, Mourinho has since won the Champions League with FC Porto, two English league titles with Chelsea and Serie A with Inter.
Now he comes face to face with Guardiola, who last season guided Barca to the domestic league and cup titles as well as the Champions League. Although this is the first round of the long group stage of matches, Mourinho will want to make a mark by guiding Inter to a victory.
Wednesday's game could also see Barcelona striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Inter's Samuel Eto'o facing each other a season after they played for each other's clubs. The two stars swapped teams in the offseason and Mourinho, who once described Ibrahimovic as the best striker in the world, said he would not dwell on the Swede's departure.
"A player that gave me as much as Ibra will always be in my heart, but I'm someone who forgets quickly and I'm focusing on my current players now," Mourinho said on Sunday. "We'll exchange a big hug before the game but, during the match, I don't even want to know who he is. He did a lot for Inter and Inter did a lot for him."
Eto'o, who scored Inter's first goal in Sunday's 2-0 victory over Parma, said Inter ought not overestimate the game against his former club.
"Now that the game against Parma is over we can think about Barcelona," he said. "We won't have any problems. We've just got to prepare ourselves well and approach this game in the best manner possible.
"Inter-Barcelona will be an important game for Inter, because it's the first in the Champions League, but I think all the games are important."
Barcelona and Inter are the strong favorites to qualify for the last 16-team knockout stage from their group and leave Dynamo Kiev and Russian champion Rubin behind. They meet Wednesday in Ukraine.
--source http://www.newsnow.co.uk
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