At 63 years old, José Mourinho is preparing to return to a place where he was happy. Football has changed. The world too. And he himself, inevitably, has changed over time. But there is something that remains intact: the intensity with which he lives each day... because Mourinho doesn't know how to live football halfway. The level of detail you work with is difficult to explain, you live to the limit. Your routine starts before everyone else’s. Too early. Always the first to arrive at the training center. It's not just a matter of discipline; It's a way to control the team's pulse from the first minute of the day. He likes to observe who arrives early, who arrives late, who enters concentrated and who shows signs of tiredness or disconnection. Before training even begins, Mourinho seeks to control those small details that usually go unnoticed. Mourinho: "I haven't spoken to Florentino Pérez, but my representative has contacts with the club." “He always knows when a player is going to be better or worse”, they assure from his circle. “And a lot of times you anticipate that before anyone else.” Mourinho's mornings consist of quick breakfasts, newspapers, analysis, tactical adjustments and the latest details of the session. Then comes the field. And then the most recognizable Mourinho appears: obsessive with each exercise, attentive to each gesture, incapable of letting a detail pass without correcting it. Nothing is left to chance. After training, the work continues. Video review, session analysis, individual and collective meetings, planning for the next day. Perhaps Arbeloa learned this from him... and hence his famous gray Valdebebas sofa. In its technical staff there is a silent norm. No one leaves the sports city until everything is prepared down to the smallest detail for the next day. “The level of detail with which he works is difficult to explain”, say those who work with him. “It demands a lot, but because he himself lives to the limit of the demands”. And perhaps therein lies the key for Mourinho, after having achieved almost everything. He continues to behave like someone who still feels like he has something to prove. Far from just being part of the first team, Mourinho maintains a constant relationship with the club's young football players. In Seixal, it was common to see him watching the club's games, attending training sessions or sharing lunches with players who are just starting out on their journey. "I wanted the boys to feel that he was attentive to everyone. He talked to them, gave them advice and made them feel important", they explain. Therefore, he often ends up staying until night in the sporting city itself. Watching games from other leagues, preparing future rivals or reviewing details. Working when most are gone. At decisive moments of the season, especially when the family is away, he even sleeps there. “It's difficult to keep up with him, even for the youngest ones”, recognize those who work alongside him. And yet, after so many titles, so many battles and so many years in the elite, the feeling around Mourinho remains the same. As if time had passed for everyone but him.