There are few managers in sports that receive as much attention as Jose Mourinho.

The 48-year-old Real Madrid manager has bounced around four clubs and four leagues in the past seven years.

Sports Illustrated writer Grant Wahl went as far as to call Mourinho among the best coaches of any sport of all time.

But in his first season with Real Madrid, some doubt may have shrouded the legacy of this famed strategist.

After a 5-0 trashing at Nou Camp against Barcelona, and only a 1-1 result at Santiago Bernabeu against the Catalans, Mourinho may not have been getting the most of his talent-rich club, who seem destined to finish second in the La Liga standings to their rivals.

Some critics may have been questioning Mourinho, wondering whether he's as great a coach as many give him credit for.

But things took a dramatic turn on Wednesday.

In the Copa del Rey, on a neutral surface, Real Madrid went toe-to-toe with Barcelona, a team that has made easy work of nearly every opponent they've faced.

With a title on the line, Mourinho's squad played to a scoreless result after 90 minutes.

In the first half, it appeared that Real Madrid would get on the board. In the 44th minute, a header by Pepe knocked the inside of the post.

The second half was mainly controlled by Barcelona. Real Madrid goalkeeper Iker Casillas was able to shine against an onslaught of shots.

Then in overtime, the fantastic pass from Angel Di Maria to Cristiano Ronaldo, who headed the ball in, broke the deadlock.

Game over. Real Madrid takes home their first Copa del Rey in 18 years, while ending a six-game win-less streak against Barcelona.

A satisfying victory for Mourinho to say the least.

He used subs sparingly. Mesut Ozil, who perhaps has the best field vision of any player on either team, was surprisingly pulled 70 minutes into the match, in favor of scoring threat Emmanuel Adebayor.

It turned out to be a move that worked, as Adebayor offered the Barcelona defense a tougher challenge. Mourinho wouldn't pull another player for the 104th minute, and used his final substitution in the final minute, in what appeared to be a move to get Ricardo Carvalho an ovation more than anything else.

There was little smoothness to the way Los Galaticos played. Real Madrid didn't connect on many passes, and didn't seem to value ball possession.

In some ways, it was an ugly game. There was a lot of pushing, and several yellow cards. Both teams appeared to turn the ball over more often than they normally would.

But that kind of ugly game is fine with Mourinho.

For some, great football is to keep possession of the ball but that is not so, he said. A great game is defensive work, counter-attack, covering the space and working collectively.

Winning, it seems, is more important that winning with style. Mourinho teams often tend to not show the grace of the beautiful game.

But the most important thing for Mourinho's teams is that they win. Real Madrid, for all of their historic success, have not won much recently.

Mourinho has given us a winning spirit, said Ronaldo. We knew in this game that whoever scored would win and that's the way it was.

Of course, this isn't over. Mourinho's club will face Barcelona two more times in the next two weeks.

But for now, their manager has helped bring a trophy to an organization that desperately needed one.

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