Mourinho hits back at Mancini

Jose Mourinho
| credits: File copy

Jose Mourinho has laughed off Roberto Mancini’s claim that he was responsible for Inter Milan’s UEFA Champions League success in 2010, Associated Press has reported.

The current Chelsea manager replaced Mancini at Inter in 2008 and led the Italian side to two Italian league titles, the Italian cup and the Champions League.

Speaking ahead of Chelsea’s Champions League last-16 game against Mancini’s Galatasaray, Mourinho said there was no doubt who was responsible for Inter’s success.

He said, “It’s funny, it’s funny. It’s funny because my team in the final had Lucio, Thiago Motta, Diego Milito, Samuel Eto’o, Goran Pandev and Wesley Sneijder.

“From my 11 players, he didn’t work with six of them. So he made a five-a-side team because I played with only five players from his team.”

Mancini had earlier claimed, “Mourinho won the Champions League because he took a very good team. He took a team that, like Manchester City, I had built, a team that had a strong mentality. When I went to Inter, they played very bad football and we changed this.”