Vintage Porto uncorked

Monaco 0 Porto 3

The Champions League trophy looks certain be a parting gift from Mourinho to Porto Chelsea chief executive Peter Kenyon was at the AufSchalke Arena in Gelsenkirchen "not on holiday but preparing for next season" but it confirms the 41-year-old as one of the greatest coaching talents in the game.

In two seasons at Porto, Mourinho has turned an under-performing side into one which has won two league titles, the Portuguese Cup, the UEFA Cup and now the biggest prize of all in club football.

Porto were unmovable at the back, fluid and flexible in midfield, and clinical when it came to landing the killer blow.

Carlos Alberto, fast, skilful and purposeful, stole the lead after a mix-up in the Monaco defence. Then, as Didier Deschamps set on the cavalry to chase an equaliser, Deco and substitute Dmitri Alenitchev secured the victory with breakaway goals.

Monaco nearly drew first blood in the game's first real attack when Lucas Benardi rifled a beautiful through-ball into Ludovic Giuly's path as Porto keeper Vitor Baia came charging out to try and head off the danger. Giuly went tumbling and so did Monaco's chances as he picked up an injury that saw the French side's captain and talisman limp off soon after.

Porto probed Monaco's fragile defence with Carlos Alberto finding gaps on the left flank and Deco letting flying from 18 yards only to see his shot blocked by Gael Givet.

There was plenty to admire though few clear-cut chances in the opening 20 minutes. Edouard Cisse had a powerful run only to see his driven cross hacked clear, Deco was inches away from the perfect ball to free Derlei, while Patrice Evra put in a couple of penetrating runs for Monaco from right-back.

Giuly was replaced by Dado Prso, the Rangers-bound Croatian who scored five times in a group match against Deportivo La Coruna.

His first intervention was to get a touch on Edouard Cisse's cross but he diverted it away from the better-placed Fernando Morientes.

Deco then caused some panic in the Monaco ranks with a looping pass that Julien Rodriguez cleared under pressure from Derlei, then from the resulting corner Ricardo Carvalho's header whisked across the goalmouth. Andreas Zikos played Monaco into trouble when he lost possession to Paulo Ferreira and Derlei burst down the right wing and aimed for Deco only for Givet to intercept.

Porto looked to be growing in confidence and they turned that dominance into a lead six minutes before the break.

Paulo Ferreira's ball from deep should have been cleared after Carlos Alberto's first touch was not the best but Monaco's two centre-backs got caught in a hopeless muddle and, when the ball popped up, the Brazilian hooked it from 10 yards out into the top corner.

Monaco decided to adopt a more direct approach, using the heading ability of Prso and Morientes, but got little change out of Porto's defence.

Mourinho then adjusted his formation to make it more compact with the bustling Russian midfielder Alenitchev coming on for Carlos Alberto for the last half-hour.

As Monaco tried to force the issue, the gaps appeared in their backline.

Porto threatened to break away on a couple of occasions before they finally succeeded in taking a commanding grasp of the match when Deco made in 2-0 with 19 minutes to go. Morientes lost the ball, Deco picked it up and found Alenitchev free on the left. The little Russian sprinted forward before cutting it back for man of the match Deco, who had bent his run away from the defenders perfectly, and he picked his spot brilliantly low to Flavio Roma's right.

It was game over in the 75th minute when Alenitchev latched onto a deflected pass into the box and lashed it past Roma to send Porto into fresh paroxysms of delight.

FC PORTO: Vitor Baia, Jorge Costa, Ricardo Carvalho, Nuno Valente, Paulo Ferreira, Costinha, Deco (Pedro Emanuel 85), Maniche, Carlos Alberto (Alenitchev 60), Pedro Mendes, Derlei (McCarthy 78).

MONACO: Roma, Rodriguez, Givet (Squillaci 72), Ibarra, Bernardi, Evra, Giuly (Prso 23), Cisse (Nonda 64), Zikos, Rothen, Morientes.

Referee: Kim Nielsen (Denmark).