Jose Mourinho and Quique Sanchez Flores are in many ways quite similar. Sanchez Flores earned 15 Spain caps and represented both Valencia and Real Madrid, enjoying a more successful playing career than Mourinho, who plied Portugal's lower division.

But Mourinho, 48, and Sanchez Flores, 45, both began their managerial careers in modest environs: Sanchez Flores at Real Madrid's youth setup -- almost a rite of passage for Spanish coaches -- and Mourinho, after a very brief nine-game tenure at Benfica, as a first-team coach at Uniao de Leiria.

Both men are passionate, opinionated and ooze football from every pore of their beings. These days, both are in charge of team affairs at two of the most demanding clubs in the world: Sanchez Flores at Atletico Madrid, Mourinho at Real Madrid. And both are not having a very good time of it.

Mourinho's achievements glitter more brightly than Sanchez Flores': two Primeira Ligas, two Premier Leagues, two Scudettos, a UEFA Cup treble with Porto and a Champions League treble at Inter, to name a few. He led Chelsea to its first league title in 50 years; Inter to its first European triumph in 45 years. Clearly, the Special One was the man to restore Real Madrid to the pinnacle of domestic and European dominance. This is his task, which is the most difficult the Portuguese has shouldered in his career.

Sanchez Flores cannot compete with Mourinho's hardware collection; a Portuguese League Cup was the sum total of his trophies before he arrived at Atletico. But this past season, Sanchez Flores led the side to its first European title since a Cup Winners' Cup in 1962, throwing in a King's Cup runners-up medal to add to his players' Europa League glory. For good measure, he guided Atletico to a European Supercup win over all-conquering Inter Milan. The Supercup may be little more than a preseason friendly, but its addition represented a downpour of titles to a club that had for so long been feeding off mirages in the desert.

It is fair to say that expectations in Madrid were high when the season began. Mourinho would break Barca's hegemony in La Liga, lead Madrid to its tenth European Cup -- which is nothing short of an all-consuming obsession at the Bernabeu -- and have his side do it while playing expansive total football that would leave observers open-mouthed in wonder.

Sanchez Flores was charged with significantly less -- returning Atletico to the top four and maybe throwing in another cup run while he was at it. To achieve this, he was given something few Atletico coaches have been lucky enough to receive -- a defense. On the bedrock of Diego Godin and Filipe Luis, brought in for around 20 million euros, Atletico's much-vaunted forward line would be given free rein to run amok, terrorizing defenders the league over.

It has not quite worked out for Atletico. The team has scored only five more than it has conceded, and the back line is still prone to slapstick errors. There can be no stronger indictment of the Rojiblancos' defense this season than the fact that Luis Perea -- who himself admitted this past summer that he had been in woeful form for at least two years -- will actually be missed at Camp Nou on Saturday as he sits out a suspension.

Atletico sits in seventh, eleven points adrift of the Champions League places and surrounded by teams in decent runs of form, including Espanyol, Athletic and resurgent Sevilla.

Atletico is in freefall. It suffered a soul-crushing failure to earn its first win over city rival Real since 1997 when Mourinho's men bounced Atletico from the Copa del Rey over two legs, a loss exacerbated by league defeats to Sporting and Athletic Bilbao without scoring a goal. The strain is beginning to line Sanchez Flores' face. "It will take another 40 years to repeat last season," he told reporters, hardly a rallying cry for his battered troops.

Mourinho is engaged in a running battle with Real general director Jorge Valdano, arguably the most powerful figure at the club as the tool with which Florentino Perez carries out his club maintenance. Mourinho is increasingly viewed as a spanner in those works, and his war of words with Valdano regularly spills over in press conferences. Most recently, Mourinho dedicated his time with the media to eulogizing Pepe; the defender is in contract talks. Mourinho said signing him up is a priority. Perez disagrees. Last month a journalist asked Mourinho why he looked so glum during a press conference. "Because I want to leave," said the Portuguese with a smile.

Valdano has had enough of Mourinho and has reportedly proffered his resignation to Perez. The president told his right-hand man to wait until the end of the season. Mourinho has also had enough of the Bernabeu board and its incessant desire to undermine him.

Sanchez Flores' position has been under scrutiny for some time, too. Before the King's Cup tie with Madrid, Atletico president Enrique Cerezo backed his coach. Sort of. "We will see what happens at the end of the season," Cerezo told reporters.

Cerezo is a different beast than Perez but possesses a ruthless streak his counterpart would recognize. Cerezo has whittled through seven coaches since assuming the presidency in 2003. In eight years in charge, Perez averages a coach a season.

For Atletico, failure to qualify for the Champions League would represent a major financial blow and could well augur an end to the contributions of Atletico's only two world-class players, Sergio Aguero and Diego Forlan. Neither is Atletico's hierarchy without its self-interested elements. Valdano at Real is ably matched by the scions of the late Jesus Gil y Gil -- the corrupt former mayor of Marbella who served as Atletico president for 16 years -- who sit on the board and are regular targets of the supporters' ire.

It could be a summer of upheaval in the Spanish capital, with two of the biggest jobs in Spanish and continental football possibly becoming available. But as Mourinho and Sanchez Flores are both finding out, who on earth would be mad enough to take them?