Jose Mourinho responded to remarks made by Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola that he had six English top-flight titles while the Portuguese coach only had three by claiming that the Premier League trophies he won at Chelsea were earned properly.
After his team’s 2-0 loss to Liverpool on Sunday, Guardiola responded to cries of “you’re getting sacked in the morning” by showing the home crowd six fingers to represent the amount of league titles he has won.
Before being fired in December 2018 following a defeat to Liverpool, Mourinho, who was coaching Manchester United, had also shown the opposition three fingers during a lacklustre league season.
During a news conference, Guardiola was asked if he will suffer the same fate as Mourinho. “I hope not in my case… he won three, I won six.. but we are the same like that,” replied Guardiola.
In his reply to the Spaniard, Mourinho made reference to City’s accusations of financial rule infractions from 2009 to 2018, which the team has consistently rejected.
“Guardiola said something about me… he won six trophies and I won three, but I won fairly and cleanly,” Turkish outlet Hurriyet quoted Mourinho as saying on Friday, ahead of his team Fenerbahce’s clash with Besiktas.
“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 court cases.”
Mourinho has previously made fun of City, saying he hoped to add a fourth Premier League medal to his cabinet if City were stripped of their titles and United, who finished second in 2017–18, were given the Premier League trophy.
On Saturday, fourth-place City will travel to Crystal Palace.
City did not immediately respond to a request for comment regarding Mourinho’s statement.
