The five most controversial incidents in Jose Mourinho's Fenerbahçe career
Mourinho's most controversial remarks during his Fenerbahçe career have been about Galatasaray and "structure." In numerous statements, Mourinho has emphasized that "there is a dominant system in Türkiye."
Mourinho, who received a four-match ban after pinching Okan Buruk's nose and had it reduced to two, likened the Galatasaray-Fenerbahçe rivalry to the Celtic-Rangers rivalry in Scotland, saying, "The rivalry here isn't just a football rivalry; there's a system dominated by one team. Fenerbahçe is a club desperately trying to break Galatasaray's dominance, but this isn't a football dominance; it's a system dominance. That makes my job difficult."
Mourinho made a similar statement after the 1-0 loss to Beşiktaş:
One of Fenerbahçe's problems is dealing with this very strong team. It's very difficult to cope. This is much more than quality and desire. The players feel it, too. They know it's impossible to achieve what they want. My players are giving their all on the pitch. Some individual performances weren't good today. My players gave everything on the pitch today. There was also disappointment in the match. My players were untouchable because they didn't give the quality they gave today, but they did their best. The match we played today wasn't decisive. We would have finished second in the league again.
Jose Mourinho criticised the management before the Champions League play-off round second leg against Benfica:
"I'm not considering Kerem Aktürkoğlu's transfer. I don't think the club made any extra effort to give me more opportunities for these two Benfica matches. If the Champions League was vital to my club, something would have been done during the time between Feyenoord and Benfica. The same players who played in the Feyenoord match will be on the pitch... Once this is over, it will definitely be time for a UEFA list, whether it's the Europa League or the Champions League. I don't know if anything will happen by then."
Mourinho, stating that they don't have a squad that's capable of creating surprises, said, "We don't have the kind of squad the manager can use to create surprises. I don't think we have many options for surprises. I've never lost here before because my teams have been better. Porto, Manchester United... I haven't played against Leiria here, I've played at home."
In March 2025, tensions erupted between Mourinho and Allan Saint-Maximin. The player, who was left out of the squad for the Rangers match, made a reference to the Portuguese manager on social media. Saint-Maximin wrote, "Lies produce flowers but not fruit."
Mourinho responded to Saint-Maximin at his press conference. The Portuguese manager said, “I didn't know Saint-Maximin had a talent for poetry. When a footballer trains well, he can climb stairs. But if he arrives late or weighs more, he needs a lift.”
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