Interviews

Jose Mourinho Post-Match: “We Deserved the Win in an Emotionally Intense Match”

Fenerbahçe head coach Jose Mourinho stated that his team deserved their 3-2 victory over Çaykur Rizespor in a highly emotional match during the 22nd round of the Trendyol Süper Lig.

Speaking at the post-match press conference at Ülker Stadium, the Portuguese manager responded to a question about why his team has been falling behind in recent matches. With an ironic remark, said, “The reason is that we want to add emotion to the game. First, we fall behind, and then we win. This way, everyone experiences every emotion. We concede the first on purpose.”

Regarding the recovery time for and after their European matches, Mourinho pointed out, “When the second leg of the knockout round is played, they will play their second match at home before the , while we will play in . Our match will start at 23:00 Istanbul time, while theirs will begin at 19:00.”

“For Me, the Worst Period of the Match Was the Final Stage”

Emphasizing that he made six changes to the starting eleven following a European fixture, Mourinho admitted, “Maybe it was a risk. The European match was physically and emotionally exhausting. But I don’t think the mistakes at the beginning of tonight’s match were related to that game. We didn’t play the way we were supposed to; we played the way the stadium wanted. When you’re in stoppage time, you need to control the ball so that the opponent cannot touch it. But we did something different. Even when we had an 11 vs. 9 advantage, we took risks. We needed to control the game better at that point.”

Praising his players for their reaction after going 2-0 down, Mourinho continued, “Top-level teams should be able to control their emotions. In my opinion, the worst part of the match was the final stage. We can’t play like that. I think I was the only one who stayed calm during that period. It was a match full of emotions. We hit the post multiple times, and we kept substituting defenders for offensive players. I believe we deserved the victory. For our opponents, it must have been disappointing. They wasted a lot of time, there were many stoppages due to injuries, and the cards they received were clear. Ghezzal said something that I can’t repeat here. But they are a very good team with a very good coach. Their frustration is simply because they lost.”

When asked if he was worried when his team fell 2-0 behind, Mourinho responded, “I didn’t have time to be worried. When you have experience on the bench, it’s like being in a tunnel at twilight. In that situation, you just need to read the game. I was thinking about what needed to be done. If we scored before halftime, I had one plan; if it stayed 2-0, I had another. My frustration came after we took the 3-2 lead. We train a lot for situations where we have numerical superiority. Despite being 11 vs. 9, we lost the ball three or four times. Fred played as a center-back for the first time in my life just to hold possession, yet he pushed forward and lost the ball, allowing the opponent to take a shot. We are not ; we need to control our emotions. Just as we stayed calm when we were 2-0 down, we should have done the same afterward. In football, there is no heaven or hell during a match. At least, not during the game. Right now, it feels like heaven, but during the match, it wasn’t.”

A Dig at Okan Buruk

Question: “Following Galatasaray’s dropped points in Europe, Kadir Sağlam was appointed as the . Do you have any comments?”

Mourinho: “I would like to hear Okan’s comments on this matter.”

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