Former Manchester United boss Jose Mourinho saw his Fenerbahce side knocked out of the Europa League by Rangers on penalties.
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Jose Mourinho the head coach/manager of Fenerbahce looks on
Former Man United boss Jose Mourinho saw his Fenerbahce team knocked out of the Europa League on Thursday night
(Image: Getty Images)
Jose Mourinho expressed his frustration after Fenerbahce's Europa League exit to Rangers on penalties, criticising an 'arrogant' referee and VAR official in the aftermath.
Fenerbahce won 2-0 on the night thanks to a brace from Sebastian Szymanski within the initial 90 minutes at Ibrox, but were defeated in a shootout as former Premier League stars Dusan Tadic and Fred were denied by Jack Butland. However, Mourinho was irked that his team didn't win by a larger margin after being denied three penalties across 120 minutes of action.
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The former Manchester United and Chelsea boss insisted his team were superior and deserved to progress. Mourinho squarely blamed the officials for his team's departure.
"Best team on the pitch, by far. Not by close, by far," he stated post-match. "We deserved to win after 90 minutes, we deserved to win after 120 minutes. We were the best team by far.
"In the first match I was honest and I had enough fair play to say we made mistakes, we deserve to lose, we lost. But in this match I have to also be honest and say we were the best team by far. We did everything to win, the referee and VAR decided we should go to penalties because three penalties during 120 minutes", reports the Mirror.
Jose Mourinho expressed his deep disappointment following the penalty shootout that saw Rangers advance at the expense of his team, stating: "Then on the penalties we miss three and Rangers go through, congratulations to them. I think my team deserves everything from me, from our supporters, even from Turkey as a country because we were the last club to represent Turkey in European competitions. Obviously I'm sad, especially for my boys because for them it was a dream to go through and to try and reach the final but I couldn't be more proud of them."
Throughout the match, Mourinho and his coaching staff were visibly agitated, feeling their side had not received what they deserved. The Roma manager also commented on the match officials, particularly praising the fourth official while criticising the main referee's attitude: "The fourth official was a nice guy, he was not arrogant like the referee," Mourinho remarked.
"He was a nice guy, trying to do his job. He was not making decisions, he was trying to put our bench calm. I was the only one calm, because everybody, especially the ones in front of the laptops, for them it's difficult to control."
Mourinho further reflected on the challenges faced by his team in European competitions this season, hoping that their experiences were not influenced by past events: "In relation to me the only thing that I hope is that everything that happens to my team in European competition since day one this season is not a consequence of the Budapest final, I hope that it's just random."
In a recent explosive interview, Mourinho highlighted his concerns over ongoing refereeing decisions that have affected his team since the contentious Europa League defeat in 2023. He referenced the incident: "Yes, because since that final, since my suspension after the Budapest final, these things that happen to us," adding, "We didn't play Champions League because of a penalty in minute 120 that only the VAR saw against Lille, We didn't win against Manchester United with a penalty that everyone saw.
"Today we come here and the VAR is considered one of the best, some guy from Holland, Van Boekel, he didn't see one of three penalties. I just hope it's random. I got the suspension, I paid for the suspension and I hope it is over and this is bad luck."
Rangers are set to continue their journey in the competition as they draw Athletic Bilbao in the next stage, hosting them in the first leg of the final eight before the pivotal away match.