José Mourinho found another reason to vent after Real Madrid's derby defeat to Atlético Madrid, with goals from Jonathan David and Alejandro Grimaldo sealing the win against Mourinho's 10-man side. True to form, the Portuguese coach didn't let it go quietly, holding up photographs of two challenges from Atlético's Cristian Romero and Lee Kang-in that he felt should have brought red cards, while also questioning the appointment of referee Miguel Ángel Ortiz Arias.
"It's all been very strange. The referee was known a week in advance... and he isn't an international referee, which suggests he isn't exactly a top-tier official," Mourinho said, via The Mirror. "The poor guy came here and couldn't handle the pressure."
It's the latest entry in a managerial career that has rarely gone by without some kind of flashpoint, stretching back to his early days in English football and continuing through spells in Italy, Turkey and now Spain.
'Enemy of football'
Back in 2005, UEFA referees' committee chairman Volker Roth branded Mourinho, then Chelsea manager, "an enemy of football." The row followed Mourinho's suggestion that referee Anders Frisk had spoken with Barcelona coach Frank Rijkaard at half-time of a Champions League tie, shortly before Didier Drogba was sent off. Rijkaard denied the claim, saying Frisk had actually turned him away, but the referee received death threats in the aftermath and retired in March 2005. Roth's response was blunt: "We can't accept that one of our best referees has been forced to quit because of this. People like Mourinho are the enemy of football."
Hiding in a laundry basket
After UEFA banned him from the touchline for a Champions League quarter-final against Bayern Munich, Mourinho still found a way into the Stamford Bridge dressing room hours before kick-off. Getting out again proved trickier. "I went there and nobody saw me. The problem was to leave after," he told beIN Sport. "Stewart Bannister the kit man put me in the basket. It was a little bit open so I could breathe. But when he is taking it outside the dressing room, the UEFA guys were following and desperate to find me so he closed the box and I couldn't breathe! When he opened the box I was dying! I am serious! I was claustrophobic, I promise! It's true!"
The Wenger feud
Mourinho's rivalry with Arsene Wenger simmered for years. In 2005 he called the Arsenal boss "a voyeur," prompting Wenger to consider legal action, and Mourinho later apologised for the remark. The peace didn't last — in 2014 he described Wenger as a "specialist in failure," adding: "If he is right and I am afraid of failure it is because I didn't fail many times. Eight years without silverware, that's failure. He's a specialist in failure. If I do that in Chelsea, eight years, I leave and don't come back."
The eye poke
During his first Real Madrid spell, Mourinho clashed with Barcelona's bench during the 2011 Spanish Super Cup after Marcelo's challenge on Cesc Fàbregas sparked a confrontation between the two dugouts. Cameras caught Mourinho poking Barcelona assistant Tito Vilanova in the eye, earning him a two-match ban. He later admitted fault: "I was the one in the wrong, I shouldn't have done what I did. Of course not, that negative image stays forever. Tito had nothing to do with it. I apologize to him."
The car park outburst
As Roma manager in 2023, Mourinho let loose after his side lost the Europa League final to Sevilla, telling referee Anthony Taylor's team in the car park: "You were a f****** disgrace tonight. It is a disgrace." He later insisted the words weren't for Taylor himself but for UEFA refereeing chief Roberto Rosetti and others. "Taylor wasn't there. Taylor was still in the ground," he explained. "Other people, not Taylor. The fourth official, his assistants, Rosetti, Howard Webb, the technical director of the PGMOL. I went over to Rosetti and said: 'Ref, is it a penalty or isn't it a penalty?' Rosetti did what refs usually do. He didn't reply. I asked Webb the same question. He put his hand on my shoulder and said: 'Yes, Jose, it's a pen.'"
'Respect, respect, respect'
Mourinho's Manchester United tenure produced its own share of memorable lines, including blaming the club's post-Ferguson struggles on "football heritage." After a 3-0 loss to Tottenham in August 2018, he repeated "respect, respect, respect" while walking out of his press conference, and pointed out he'd won three Premier League titles compared to what he claimed was two combined for the other 19 managers in the league. He was sacked that December.
The Galatasaray clash
While managing Fenerbahçe, Mourinho was involved in more flashpoints in Turkey. In April 2025, after a Turkish Cup defeat to Galatasaray, he appeared to pinch the nose of Galatasaray manager Okan Buruk as the pair spoke with match officials, sending Buruk to the ground. Mourinho received a three-match suspension for the incident.
The laptop protest
Also during his Fenerbahçe spell, Mourinho once placed a laptop in front of a broadcast camera to show a freeze-frame of a disallowed goal against Antalyaspor in September 2024, convinced the offside call had been wrong. He was booked for his trouble.
Wearing a wire
At Roma, Mourinho revealed he had worn a hidden microphone during a 1-1 draw with Monza in May 2023, calling referee Daniele Chiffi "the worst I've ever encountered." "I'm not stupid, you know — today, I went to the game with a microphone," he said. "I recorded everything. From the moment I left the locker room to the moment I returned. I protected myself."
