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Fenerbahçe boss Jose Mourinho rubbished Turkish football's European catalogue in recent rant.
Fenerbahce boss Jose Mourinho responded brutally after a Turkish journalist highlighted his absence from the Champions League in many years, as the anniversary of his first UCL win approaches.
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20:51 - 28.05.2025
He should resign - Former Fenerbahçe player slams Mourinho
Demirel doubts the Portuguese manager's suitability to lead the Turkish club next season.
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20:45 - 28.05.2025
'I didn’t want them to win the treble' — Mourinho rejoices over Inter’s failures
Former Inter coach Jose Mourinho has revealed that he was against the Nerazzurri winning another treble this season
Mourinho and the Champions League
The 63-year-old led Porto to Champions League triumph in 2004, and six years later, he took Inter to glory. Since then, however, his best finish has been the semi-finals he reached with Real Madrid.
Also, he has not coached a team in the competition since the 2019/20 season, when he reached the Round of 16 with Tottenham. However, he has won the UEFA Conference League with Roma in the period.
What Mourinho said
Presented with this fact by a journalist following their 4-2 defeat to Atakas Hatayspor on matchday 37 of the Turkish Super Lig, Mourinho fired back, saying that he has played in more European finals in the last seven years than every team in Turkish football history.
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"I have played in more finals in Europe in the last seven years than the history of Turkish football has ever seen," Mourinho said, per NtvSpor. "It's been 20-21 years since I won the championship with Porto. I played in the finals in Europe in the last 7 years.
Mourinho then explained why he failed to qualify Fenerbahce for the competition for the current season, but is confident that they will scale through the playoffs and reach the UCL finals next season.
“We fought last summer with Fenerbahçe to qualify for the Champions League. We tried that but last summer was difficult for us. Because there were players who participated in the European Championship and joined the team late.
“As always, it is difficult for Turkish clubs to make early transfers. So we fought these difficulties but last summer we fought with penalties to qualify for the Champions League.
“We were eliminated with a penalty goal in the last minute, in the 120th minute. If you ask me, 'Would you prefer being in the Champions League to being in the European or conference leagues?' Yes, because we will fight to qualify for the Champions League next summer. We need to play a knockout round or play-offs. We need to prepare as well as possible for these matches."
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