Chelsea F.C. manager Jose Mourinho has likened Cristiano Ronaldo to Zinedine Zidane in his latest praise for the Portuguese superstar.
Mourinho reportedly had a falling out with Ronaldo after suggesting the former Manchester United winger does not pay attention to tactical instructions because he believes he “cannot improve anymore.”
The relationship between the two officially ended after Mourinho left Madrid for West London last summer, but that has not stopped the manager from admiring Ronaldo from a distance.
In an exclusive interview with French television channel Téléfoot, Mourinho said: “He is like Zidane for the French. He is an incredible player, a goal machine. I don’t need to say what everyone already knows.”
“He plays for Real Madrid and I am Chelsea manager. We do not tend to meet in the street. There is no relationship, but there are memories. I remember the good times and the bad times.
“I must remember a kid who is a goal-scoring machine, who helped me to be champion, to win the Copa and the Supercopa.
“Probably I also helped him — we all helped each other, mutually, to win the title with 100 points against the best Barcelona team in history.”
In other news, Mourinho moved to play down reports suggesting Real Madrid defender Raphael Varane could join Chelsea.
“Everyone says that he will go to Chelsea because they know that I really like him. However, everyone also knows that he will stay at Madrid.”
Meanwhile, Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger also spoke to Téléfoot–regarding his bust-up with Mourinho at Stamford Bridge–this weekend.
Wenger confronted Mourinho after a poor challenge from Gary Cahill on Alexis Sanchez, which may have very well resulted in a red card on another day.
Fourth official Jon Moss separated the managers before Martin Atkinson administered a lecture that was surely not foreseeable to him or anyone else.
“They gave too much importance to this story,” Wenger said. “In hindsight, I think I should not have reacted at all — it’s not a way to behave on a football field.
“I always regret any signs of violence and I apologise, but that’s a part of games where everything is manic. And then we have quite a substantial past. Did Mourinho provoke me? That is how I felt. I did not enter Chelsea’s technical area.”
When asked about the incident, Mourinho said: “I have no words to explain what everybody saw in those images.” Classic Mourinho. After all, nobody handles the press better than Jose.
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