Jose Mourinho’s new club Fenerbahce Istanbul have been denied the Champions League in their first season. After the dramatic 1:1 draw against Lille, the Portuguese directed his criticism towards the referee
Jose Mourinho was unveiled in Istanbul with great fanfare, and his appointment at Fenerbahce is associated with great expectations. However, the Turks missed the first important milestone in the penultimate step. In the third round of the Champions League qualifiers, Fener failed in two matches against Ligue 1 representatives Lille.
The 1:2 in the first leg was followed by a second leg with few highlights for a long time, which only finally gathered momentum in stoppage time and came to a dramatic end in extra time. With the worse ending for Fenerbahce
Mourinho did not want to blame his charges for this. “The team tried everything today,” said the Portuguese on Turkish television: “We tried everything on the pitch, changed the system, swapped players.”
The Fener fans had “seen and rewarded the fighting spirit of our team”. In the end, however, there were disappointed faces. While arch-rivals Galatasaray will be looking to seize their chance against Young Boys Bern in the play-off round, Mourinho will once again only have the role of spectator in the top flight
Theatricality of the Lille professionals annoys Mourinho
In the end, “The Special One” did find someone to blame for the elimination: José Maria Sanchez Martinez. The Spanish referee had pointed to the spot for a handball late in extra time following a VAR referral.
“It’s better for me not to say anything about the penalty,” Mourinho began, before adding: “Because when I look at other situations that have happened recently, or what happened at the European Championship, I can say that only the referee knows why it was a penalty. “
At first, Mourinho did not want to judge the theatrics of Lille’s players. “That’s the referee’s job.” And then somehow he did: “The referee has to respect the game and make the players respect the game. I can’t criticize that, I can’t criticize the opposing teams, I can’t criticize the opposing coaches. They also do their best to get results.”
Mourinho also proposed a solution. “As I said the other day, everything can change if the referees give a yellow card in the first 20 minutes – but they prefer not to.”
Mourinho concluded by reiterating how proud he was of his team. “And the reaction of our fans showed that they saw that the team gave their best.” But it was not enough for the premier class
