Jose Mourinho’s Pre-Lille Match Press Conference: Key Highlights and Insights

Mourinho commented on his eternal rival Galatasaray’s head coach Okan Buruk, saying, “One thing I’m certain of is that Galatasaray’s coach, Okan Buruk, can step four meters onto the field without receiving a card. But I can’t even step one meter without getting carded. A Galatasaray player can punch another player in the face and not get a card. I learned this in the first week.”

Fenerbahçe‘s coach Jose Mourinho, whose team will host France‘s Lille tomorrow in the second leg of the UEFA Champions League third qualifying round, said they would do their best to qualify for Europe’s top competition.

Speaking at the pre-match press conference, the Portuguese coach emphasized that the new format of the Champions League does not affect the qualifiers.

Mourinho, who recalled that he always worked in countries with high ranking points, said, “When you work in such countries, you qualify directly for the Champions League. Actually, this is a result of the poor results Turkish teams have recently achieved in Europe. Not only Fenerbahçe but all the teams haven’t earned enough points in Europe. Roma played in two finals in two years, Inter and Atalanta also did. Naturally, Italy rose in the rankings, and now six teams are going to the Champions League. Turkish teams also need to collect good points. This affects the playoffs and makes it more difficult. The team that finishes first plays one round, but the team in second place has to pass three rounds. We will do our best to qualify for the Champions League.”

The experienced coach stated that he does not know Lille’s president and does not care about the statements made about them, continuing:

“I don’t care what he said. Thomas Meunier is an experienced player. He played in Turkey, and he is free to express his thoughts; I respect that, but what he says doesn’t matter to me. I prefer it when opponents are against me because, in Portugal, we say, ‘The tree that bears fruit gets stoned.’ In football, when you have a past and successes, you can see this as the price you pay. The same goes for journalists because if you criticize me, you’ll become famous.”

When asked about his comments directed at Galatasaray after the Adana Demirspor match, Mourinho responded:

“One thing I am sure of is that Galatasaray’s coach Okan Buruk can enter the field four meters without getting a card, but I get carded even before stepping inside. Or a player can punch an opponent in the face and not get carded. I’ve seen these things. The matches played in the Turkish league are very tough on the field. The teams that play against us fight hard on the pitch, and winning the games isn’t easy. The teams defend well and counterattack. They know how to lower the opponent’s tempo. In this sense, it’s a tough league. Honestly, when we signed the contract here, the president told me, ‘This is not an easy league.’ Every match is tough, and he was right. The first-week matches I watched were enough to show me this. It’s a tough league, not easy. It’s not just the games you play against the top teams.”

Mourinho mentioned that they have practiced penalties and that he would rotate among players with similar characteristics.

“I Hope Ferdi Stays with the Team”

Jose Mourinho expressed that he would prefer Ferdi Kadıoğlu, who is rumored to be leaving the team, to stay but that it was not in his control.

The 61-year-old coach emphasized that Ferdi is a great professional, saying, “My opinion is that a lot is being said about everything. If you get too caught up in these rumors, it will be trouble. I made a statement like that. Teams that want to achieve something must improve their squads and not lose their best players. I want Ferdi to stay, but this is not up to me. He is a great professional and a very good guy. He trains very well; I hope he stays with the team.”

Mourinho emphasized that he is currently more focused on the players he has available than on transfers, saying, “Yesterday and today were tough for us. We are still recovering. Our disadvantage is that we played a match 48 hours ago, but Lille didn’t. If we score 7 goals but concede 6, that’s fine with me. If we don’t concede any goals tomorrow but don’t score either, that means we are eliminated. If we concede a goal, we need to score more than we concede. We should be happy to play tomorrow’s match. Tomorrow is a do-or-die match, and we need to enjoy it,” he concluded.