Jose Mourinho sarcastically branded referee Clement Turpin “one of the best in the world”, following his dismissal during Fenerbahce’s draw with former club Manchester United.
The Turkish side earned a share of the spoils in Istanbul, where Youssef En-Nesyri was on target in the second half to cancel out Christian Eriksen’s earlier effort.
Although, it could have been more for the hosts, who saw a penalty appeal waved away after Manuel Ugarte collided with Bright Osayi-Samuel.
Mourinho was sent to the stands for his furious reaction to the challenge, and the former United boss lifted the lid on his interaction with French official Turpin later in the referee’s room.
“I watched the incident back, and I don’t want to speak about it,” he told TNT Sports.
“He told me something incredible. He told me that at the same time, he saw the action in the box and my behaviour. I congratulate him, it’s incredible – his peripheral vision!
“He had one eye on the penalty situation and one eye on my behaviour on the bench – that’s why he’s one of the best referees in the world!”
Nevertheless, Mourinho was full of praise for his players following their performance, after they took their points tally to five after the opening three matchdays.
“They got a point against us, not us against them,” he added. “We played amazingly. I told the players: ‘if we play like this in the Turkish league, we will destroy every single team’.
“The Premier League has more quality, more intensity, more pace, more everything.
“In England, you’ll probably talk about one or two players from United who didn’t play. You don’t know how many of our players didn’t play, we had injuries. We had to solve an amazing puzzle.
“My boys played an amazing match. We had a phenomenal performance. My goalkeeper didn’t make a save.”
Photos from the game. #UEL #FBvMUN pic.twitter.com/HR33eiDAYV
— Fenerbahçe English (@Fenerbahce_EN) October 24, 2024
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