Mourinho is heading for Stamford Bridge to find the love he has always craved

For someone of such conspicuous self-confidence and pragmatic certainty, Jose Mourinho seems to have a contrary desire to be loved.

Had he been on the Avenida de Concha Espina, which hugs one end of the Bernabeu, two hours before Tuesday's semi-final second leg against Dortmund, the Real Madrid manager would have been taken with the affection on display from thousands of hardcore fans. Mourinho's name was chanted long and loud.

Yet after Real's narrow failure to overturn a three-goal deficit, Mourinho spoke, apparently of Chelsea, when he said he wanted to be somewhere he is 'loved'.

This must have been a reference to the Spanish media rather than the public, and perhaps to the Real boardroom.

Mourinho, 50, has a relationship with a chunk of the Spanish press that reached the mutual-loathing stage some time ago.

El Pais wrote on Wednesday of Mourinho using Tuesday's post-match press conference as an 'opportunity for personal aggrandisement, self-promotion and the construction of alternative stories'.

Some of those reporters may view themselves as one of those alternative stories - Mourinho using them as a lever to extract himself from Madrid.

Because the evidence on the streets was not of a public wanting a manager out, and even during the second half, when Real faded for a while and Dortmund broke upfield dangerously, the masses did not turn on their manager or his team.

Mourinho dismayed many across Spain and Europe - and some high within Real - when he poked then-Barcelona assistant manager Tito Vilanova in the eye in 2011.

But one can imagine that did not dilute appreciation for him among Madrid's hardcore keen to take the fight to Barca, the darlings of planet football.

Of course it matters how any manager is perceived by the press but Mourinho sets disproportionate emphasis on it.

At least when he wants to.

Unquestionably, media perception is a factor for a club hierarchy to consider - Chelsea have been stressed this season by the unpopularity of Rafa Benitez - and fans' opinions, so often overlooked, do count when it comes to selling seats.

Mourinho would sell tickets at Stamford Bridge and that boxoffice impact is not to be sniffed at in any boardroom - though it will be recalled that there were fewer than 25,000 at Mourinho's last game in charge at Stamford Bridge in September 2007, a Champions League group game against Rosenborg.

But then, if they can set aside media criticism and personal misgivings, Real Madrid also know the commercial benefits of having arguably the most famous manager on the planet in their dugout.

Club president Florentino Perez, the man who initiated the Galactico era at Real, understands the meaning of populism.

However, those who inhabit the boardroom - along with the players - are those who deal with managers on a daily basis. As such they come to know the real man, not the Real manager of public appeal.

At boardroom level at Chelsea they gradually grew tired of Mourinho and his antics, despite the success he brought to the club and the successful domestic challenge his side provided for Manchester United.

At Madrid there have been a series of tales about Mourinho's discordant interaction with some players, mainly those who pre-date him at the club. Perez was filmed giving them all a hearty greeting on Tuesday and is said to get on agreeably with his manager.

But yesterday and tomorrow Perez may be reflecting on the harsh fact mentioned by El Pais that Mourinho has not achieved his principal task at the Bernabeu: the return of the European Cup.

Real will soon be into a 12th season without the cup they have won more than any other club - though they should know about patience, having gone from 1966 to 1998 without winning it. In that context, Mourinho's record of three Champions League semi-finals in three years, and a Spanish title, is no all-out failure.

The thing is that after he marshalled Porto and Inter Milan to the Champions League crown, Real thought they were acquiring certainty when Mourinho took over three years ago.

But the timing has coincided with the beautiful obstacle known as Lionel Messi and Barcelona, while the rise of the German Bundesliga can be seen in Real's last two semi-finals - lost to Bayern Munich and Dortmund.

Certainty gave way to uncertainty, which is where we are now. Real have six matches between here and June 1, including a Copa del Rey final against neighbours Atletico.

Win that and Mourinho will have some silverware to show for the season.

It could matter.

Overshadowed by his comments about English football on Tuesday were those about staying at Real.

His team are not far off being Champions League finalists, whereas Chelsea are in the Europa League; Real are nine points behind Barcelona, whereas Chelsea are 20 behind Manchester United.

So there are reasons to stay as well as to go. Pragmatism is one, and as the crowds on Avenida de Concha Espina showed, love is another.