Jose Mourinho makes Man City 115 charges dig in response to Pep Guardiola title vibe
The two great managers have renewed their old feud this week.
Jose Mourinho has hit back at Pep Guardiola’s remarks on him winning three more Premier League titles, with the ex-Manchester United manager claiming he didn’t win any while ‘dealing with 150 lawsuits’.
Guardiola made his comments on Tuesday after he was asked about his reaction at Anfield. The Manchester City boss held up six fingers to the crowd in the 2-0 loss to Liverpool - to indicate the six Premier League titles he has won - following chants from the Liverpool fans that he was going to be ‘sacked in the morning’.
It was an action that evoked memories of Mourinho, who on several instances during his time in charge of United and Chelsea held up fingers to remind supporters of previous trophy successes.
When it was put to Guardiola that many viewed it as the ‘beginning of the end’ for Mourinho, the City boss replied: “I hope not in my case... He won three, I won six.. but we are the same like that. We are together in the those situations. To make our fans know that we are much, much better than the people that sing that.”
But the subtle dig that Guardiola won double the number of league titles clearly irked Mourinho, who had a pop back at his old adversary.
“I just want to adapt to the things I participate in. I want to win, but I want to win cleanly and fairly. If I can't win cleanly, I'd rather lose,” claimed the Fenerbahce manager.
“Guardiola said something to me yesterday. He won six trophies and I won three, but I won fairly and cleanly. If I lost, I want to congratulate my opponent because he was better than me. I don't want to win by dealing with 150 lawsuits.”
Mourinho's comments were in reference to the ongoing case brought against City by the Premier League, which alleges the reigning champions committed several cases of financial mismanagement over a prolonged period between 2009 and 2018. City deny any wrongdoing, with the case currently ongoing.
Meanwhile, Mourinho’s response renews what felt like a dormant rivalry between him and Guardiola. The pair had a long-running feud when they were at Real Madrid and Barcelona managers, while they also met in six Manchester derbies.