Maybe The Special One isn't so special after all.
After seemingly pulling a fast one in a Champions League match last week, José Mourinho will indeed pay for appearing to instruct two of his players - Sergio Ramos and Xabi Alonso - to get themselves ejected in order to avoid missing any crucial knockout round action for Real Madrid.
A day after the famed club got shellacked on the pitch by arch-rivals Barcelona, its manager and a handful of players had to withstand another setback, this time financially, as UEFA ruled on the incident that has had the football world talking in its aftermath.
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Mourinho took the largest personal hit, a €40,000 fine plus a one-match suspension and "a probationary period of three years." Should the Portuguese gaffer not further piss off UEFA during those three years (a sucker's bet if I ever heard one), he won't face more sanctioning from the governing body.
Xabi Alonso and Sergio Ramos each got hit with a €20,000 fine for their sendings-off (which will also stand), and goalkeepers Iker Casillas and Jerzy Dudek - the proverbial wire in Mourinho's game of "Champions League Telephone" - will have to pony up €10,000 and €5,000, respectively.
The club itself was also served with a €120,000 fine.
In an earlier column, I suggested that Mourinho, Ramos and Alonso could be hit with additional match bans, but it seems as though all three will simply miss the now-useless match against Auxerre to close out the group stage, which seemed to be the plan all along (minus the fines, of course).
Hmmm....