One hand signal and two 'Go!' shouts that changed Mou's fortunes and killed Madrid

The sixth minute of added time had already begun when Real Madrid's Eduardo Camavinga crossed a useless ball into Benfica's box, and the Eagles' custodian Anatoliy Trubin controlled the ball with his chest, trying to waste time, and made his club's legend Joao Pinto and president Rui Costa furious.

The reason? Despite a 3-2 lead over Los Blancos, Benfica needed another goal to qualify for the Champions League knockout phase. Unfortunately, the Ukrainian keeper was unaware of that. But who can blame him when even Jose Mourinho admitted following the match that he had found out about it just two minutes earlier and after using all the available substitutions.

"When I made the last changes, [Franjo] Ivanovic and [Antonio] Silva, I was told [the scoreline] is enough, so let's close the door."

"A few seconds later, then they tell me we need one more goal, but I cannot make more changes. That was the lucky point, to get the free kick, to allow us to go there with the big guy [Trubin]," the Portuguese tactician told Paramount+ via ESPN.

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Three minutes after Trubin's "mistake", the Eagles received a long-range free kick, as the ultimate chance to change their fortunes.

The camera focused on Mou. One of the defenders got the order to stay, but the gaffer's instructions to the goalie were clear: sharp hand gestures toward Madrid's box, accompanied by two "Go! Go!" shouts.

"I didn't know what we needed. Then I saw everyone telling me to go up. I also saw our coach, so I went up, went into the box," Trubin said after the game.

And he understood the assignment, leapt into the air, and scored one of the most memorable goals in UCL history.

He may have delivered it, but the mastermind behind it was "The Special One" - after all, he didn't get that nickname for nothing. Jose painted the picture, and Trubin's goal was the signature in the bottom-right corner of the canvas.

"We knew that he could do it, we knew that he could do it. We were losing in Porto a couple of weeks ago and in the last minute he went there and almost scored. So we know the big guy is capable of this," Mou admitted, speaking to TNT Sports.

When some future generations in 10, 15, 20, or more years watch the compilation of the most iconic UCL moments, almost half of them (including last night's) will feature Mourinho, for sure. That's his greatest legacy. Unique. Authentic. Special.