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Topics: Jose Mourinho, Football, Roma, Fenerbahce, Chelsea, Inter Milan
Ben McAleer
Topics: Jose Mourinho, Football, Roma, Fenerbahce, Chelsea, Inter Milan
Jose Mourinho has named the one club that game him ‘special pleasure’ above all others, leaving journalists stunned.
Mourinho was discussing his career, the evolution of football, and more with Portuguese news channel Canal 11 over the weekend.
The 62-year-old has enjoyed a glittering managerial career, winning numerous trophies during his time with Chelsea, Real Madrid and Inter, among others.
Mourinho has also managed Porto, Manchester United, Tottenham, and Roma, while he is currently head coach at Fenerbahce and heads into his second season for the Turkish side.
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Fener’s opening Super Lig weekend meeting with Alanyaspor was postponed owing to their participation in the Champions League qualifiers.
The Turkish giants lost the first leg at Feyenoord 2-1 last week and will hope to overcome the one-goal deficit on home turf next week in a repeat of the UEFA Conference League final in 2022.
However, while Mourinho has managed a number of illustrious clubs since he started his career with Benfica in 2000, the love-him-or-loathe-him boss has confirmed the European giants that that he has revealed gave him ‘great pleasure’.
"I think my Porto stays for the history. I think my Chelsea is the greatest team in the history of the Premier League, from 2004 to 2006. Arsenal were invincible, but only in one season,” Mourinho told Canal 11 when asked about his best teams.
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“In those two seasons, we were more unbeatable than them. It was a fantastic team. We didn't win the Champions League because there was no goal line technology.
“My Inter also won everything… But for example Roma, to me, was a great pleasure. I don't want to say that I made omelettes without eggs, that would be disrespectful to my guys.
“But to win the Conference League and to reach consecutive European finals, with all of our problems, with FFP limitations, without being able to buy players… Roma is one of the most beautiful jobs of my career overall.
“I managed to unite a club that wasn't united, I brought back many fans that had fled, we made it so Roma's brand image was to have the stadium sold-out, sold-out, sold-out all the time. My work at Roma gave me a special pleasure.”
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Mourinho was at the Stadio Olimpico helm from the summer of 2021 to January 2024, with his Roma side at the time five points off the Champions League spots, and had recently lost to fierce rivals Lazio in the quarter-finals of the Coppa Italia upon his immediate dismissal.
Mourinho’s Fenerbahce side finished 11 points behind title winners Galatasaray in the Super Lig last season, and the club will demand the Yellow Canaries launched a more sustained title push as they look to finish top for the 20th time in their history.