'Welcome to hell' - José Mourinho tells reporter after Feyenoord loss

He kept his composure and repeatedly restrained his staff and substitutes from reacting to decisions made by Swedish referee Glenn Nyberg. After the match, the usually fiery Portuguese manager was uncharacteristically subdued.

Mourinho often criticises referees himself. In fact, in Turkey, his comments about officials and VAR have repeatedly caused uproar and even calls for his dismissal. But in Rotterdam, he showed a different side.

During his press conference, Mourinho, who is gunning for the head coach position of the Portuguese national team, showed more of his usual self with a pointed remark to a well-known reporter.

"I'm often critical of referees, but tonight's official was excellent. He didn't need cards to control the game. A top referee," he complimented, surprisingly, as reported by Sport.

Mourinho saw a strong Feyenoord in the first half, but his Fenerbahçe side dominated the second half at De Kuip. Yet again, the Portuguese manager failed to win in the iconic stadium, a statistic that clearly haunts him. "Did you know I've never won here?" he mused aloud.

"But I always win the second leg. If we had lost, and they were better and put us in difficulty, then I would think we had no chance, or only a small one. But the first half they were better, the second half we were not a little, but *much* better."

Mourinho shares a special bond with Dutch journalist Joep Schreuder from NOS, so he had some extra words for him after the 2-1 defeat against Feyenoord. "I never see you so happy after the second leg. Welcome to Istanbul, welcome to hell."

He was referring to the stadium in Istanbul, where the atmosphere can be electric and a cauldron is expected for the return leg next week.

"I'm happy with the players. There's a lot of frustration because of the 2-1 loss, but we also have confidence. Feyenoord had a fantastic stadium behind them, but we can have that too."