José Mourinho blames two people for his team's defeat. The referee and the VAR. He is not sparing with clear words.
14.03.2025, 07:30
14.03.2025, 07:58
dpa
Star coach José Mourinho has blamed the referee and the video assistant referee for Fenerbahce Istanbul's Europa League exit. The 62-year-old Portuguese's team missed out on a place in the quarter-finals on penalties at Glasgow Rangers.
"The referee and the VAR decided that we had to go to penalties. There should have been three penalties in the 120 minutes," Mourinho told TNT Sports: "We were by far the better team tonight - not just a little, but by far."
Fenerbahce had led 2-0 after 90 and 120 minutes thanks to a brace from Sebastian Szymański after the 3-1 defeat in the first leg. The game therefore had to be decided on penalties in the second leg. "It would have been perfect if we had scored a third goal," said the two-time goalscorer. "We played great and deserved more."
Conspiracy against Mourinho?
Once in a rage, however, his coach took the referee, Espen Eskas, to task. The fourth official was "not as arrogant" as the referee.
The coach also hopes that what happened at Rangers has nothing to do with his ban after the 2023 Europa League final, when he was still coach of AS Roma. He had called the referee at the time a "disgrace" and was banned for four games.
"Since that final, since my suspension, a lot of things have happened to us," he said. They had come to Glasgow and the video referee was considered one of the best. "He didn't even see one of three penalties. I just hope it's a coincidence," said Mourinho.
