Jose Mourinho has sarcastically called Clement Turpin the ‘best referee in the world’ after being told why he was sent off by the official in Fenerbahce’s 1-1 draw with Manchester United.
Mourinho was his lively self on the touchline throughout the game against his former side and seemingly overstepped the mark at one point in the second half.
After remonstrating with the fourth official over a penalty appeal for his side, Mourinho was shown a straight red by Turpin.
Mourinho looked confused and refused to leave the dugout for just over a minute before storming up to the stands.
Jose Mourinho called the referee the ‘best in the world’
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The iconic manager revealed he spoke with the official after the match and he was left astounded at the explanation given to him.
“I don’t want to speak about it,” he said.
“He told me something incredible. He told me at the same time he could see the action in the box and my behaviour on the touchline.
“I congratulated him because it’s absolutely incredible. His peripherical vision during the game, 100mph, he had one eye on the penalty decision and he had one eye on the bench and my behaviour.
“That’s the explanation he gave me and that’s why he’s one of the best referees in the world.”
Mourinho refused to speak about the penalty incident after the game, but praised his players for an ‘extraordinary’ performance against Erik ten Hag’s side.
“They got a point against us, not us against them,” he added.
“We played amazing. I was telling the players if you play like this in the Turkish league we destroy every team.
Jose Mourinho was shown a straight red card
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“We played against a team that is superior level than us. Of course the Premier League has more quality, more intensity, more pace, more everything.
“I think my boys did an amazing match. Probably in England, people will speak about two or three players of Man United that didn’t play.
“You don’t know how many of us didn’t play. We have four players out of the Europa League list and we also had injuries and we had to finish the game with a centre-back playing right back, a right-back playing left back – we had to do a crazy puzzle.
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Jose Mourinho couldn’t understand why he was sent off
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“But our performance was extraordinary. I couldn’t ask any more from the players.
“Onana made two incredible saves in our fantastic initial period, they score in the situation we knew they could because the pace of the wingers and the arrival of the midfield players we knew could hurt us.”