Fenerbahçe will play in the Europa League in the new 2024-25 season after missing out on qualifying for the Champions League group stages. Mourinho’s men were beaten 3-2 on aggregate. Lille’s goal came from a penalty early in extra time, as the game was heading for a penalty shootout.
Mourinho took over at Fenerbahce in May and was given a hero’s welcome by fans upon his arrival at the Turkish club. However, it was a difficult start for the former Chelsea boss. He was yellow carded after just 20 minutes of his first league game in charge of Fenerbahce and saw his team eliminated from Europe’s premier club competition.
Mourinho took the defeat against Lille in his usual style. He told reporters after the match: “We can do very good things in the Europa League, but if… I prefer not to continue this sentence. Because if I say it, I will have problems.”
“If I speak…”
His comments echo his famous phrase “I prefer not to speak” after Aston Villa’s victory over his Chelsea team in 2014, a match in which two of his players were sent off. The Fenerbahçe manager also took aim at the referee after the defeat: ” It’s better not to talk about the penalty. When I look at other incidents that have happened to me recently, I think that only the referee knows why there was a penalty. Only the referee knows why there was a penalty, only VAR knows. I’m proud of my team. It’s the referee’s job not to waste time, he has to respect the game. He has to make sure the players respect it. I can’t criticise the opposing teams. They’re also trying to get a result. If they gave a yellow card in the first 20 minutes, everything would change, but they don’t.
Mourinho and Fenerbahce will return to action in the Super Lig against Goztepe on Saturday, aiming to make it two wins from their opening two league games.
