Mourinho at Press Conference: “We Made Incredible Defensive Mistakes”

Speaking after the match at Ülker Stadium, the Portuguese manager stated that, considering their performance, the result was actually not as bad as it could have been.

Emphasizing that the team’s overall dynamics on the pitch were poor, the 62-year-old coach said: “We were bad all over the pitch; it wouldn’t be fair to say only our defense was poor. You might laugh at this, but considering our performance, this is actually a good result. It could have been worse. We had a penalty claim, but after such a performance, it wouldn’t be right to talk about the referee. Our in-game dynamics were not good. We lost duels and couldn’t move the ball quickly.”

Mourinho highlighted the impact of Fred’s absence and continued:

“Fred was playing well individually, and when he was on the field, the team played great. We made incredible defensive mistakes. We couldn’t control the balls played behind our defense. They tried to break through with counterattacks. We deserved the punishment we received today. I don’t think the tie is over yet. There are still 90 or even 120 minutes left to play. We started with a back three. Yusuf is only 18 years old and has played many consecutive matches. We rested him in the last game. When Çağlar got injured, we brought in Djiku. Carlos is already injured, so we had limited options in defense. When we fell behind on the scoreboard, we changed the system and switched to a back four.”

Mourinho emphasized the importance of the second leg:

“The only positive thing is that we have another 90 minutes to play, but I can’t draw any critical conclusions from this match. I don’t see anything positive—everything was wrong. Even in the good chances we created, their goalkeeper made great saves. Other than that, there’s nothing. The only good thing is that we have another game to make up for it.”

Mourinho concluded by stating that he was not surprised by the opponent’s approach and that he has great respect for them:

“Their previous coach focused on a specific playing philosophy. I expected Ferguson to be more pragmatic, and he was. They defended as well as they could. When they struggled in defense, their goalkeeper made fantastic saves. They were dangerous in counterattacks and won duels. I don’t know how many centimeters their disallowed goals were, but they had two goals ruled out by VAR. It wasn’t a surprise for me. Their goalkeeper held onto the ball for 30 seconds despite the rule being six seconds. They put up a competitive performance and deserved the win. My only advice to them is: don’t celebrate too much because there is still a second match. It’s not over yet.”