Former Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho has fired a “fairly and cleanly” barb at the veracity of Pep Guardiola‘s Premier League titles.
Back in 2004, ‘The Special One’ introduced himself to the Premier League by winning the title in his first season at Stamford Bridge, a feat he would go on to repeat the following term. While Chelsea ended up sacking him in 2007 after falling out with Roman Abramovich, the now former owner re-appointed the Portuguese coach in 2013, with Mourinho guiding the Blues to another Premier League title before their relationship burned out again – leading to another sacking.
Conversely, during his time as Manchester City boss, Guardiola has won six Premier League titles, double the number of Mourinho. Recently the Spaniard has found himself in the unfamiliar position of fourth place, with City nine points behind league leaders Liverpool.
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During their 2-0 defeat to Arne Slot’s Reds at Anfield last weekend, Guardiola threw up six fingers to the Liverpool supporters, reminiscent of when Mourinho, during his final days at Old Trafford as Manchester United boss, did the exact same thing to Chelsea and Tottenham fans.
When asked about whether he could face the sack like Mourinho after doing the gesture at Anfield, Guardiola said: “I hope not in my case… He [Mourinho] won three, I won six.. but we are the same like that.”
(Image: LLUIS GENE/AFP via Getty Images)
“We are together in the those situations. To make our fans know that we are much, much better than the people that sing that [Liverpool fans singing sacked in the morning].
“It [the gesture] was just to make our fans feel that what we have done is extraordinary. I want to prove that we are an incredible football club. Sooner or later it’s going to be the end but I will try to extend as much as possible for the best of my club.”
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However, unsurprisingly, these comments did not go down well with Mourinho, Guardiola’s long-term rival. After hearing the comments, the now Fenerbahçe manager fired back a barbed retort, pointing out none of his Premier League titles were won whilst the club were alleged to have made 115 breaches of financial fair play rules.
Mourinho said: “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.”
City deny the allegations they have breached financial fair play rules, with a verdict on the 115 charges they face not expected until late 2025.