The legendary football manager Jose Mourinho finds himself once again at the center of a controversy after having seemed to have pinched the nose of the manager of Galatasaray, Okan Buruk, after the defeat of Fenerbahçe against their local rivals in the quarterfinals of the Turkish Cup. The match also witnessed the clashes among the players.
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Jose Mourinho, it seems that I cannot stay away from controversies because the legendary football manager has now been accused of having physically harassed the Galatasaray coach. After Fenerbahce de Mourinho lost 2-1 against local Galatasaray rivals in Istanbul on Wednesday, Jose, 62, seemed to have pinched the manager of Galatasaray, Okan Buruk, while the former Turkey international collapsed on the ground.
It was a highly explosive Istanbul derby in the quarter-finals of the Turkish Cup while Victor Osimhen scored twice earlier to give Galatasaray a healthy lead before Sebastian Szymanski pulled one for Fenerbahce at halftime.
There were no more goals in the match, but there was a lot of action out of the ball because the police were forced to intervene later in the match to restore calm. A mass fight also broke out between the teams while the referee was forced to send three players, including two from Galatasaray.
There is always a drama with José Mourinho … 💥💥 pic.twitter.com/vjnz9etjem
– Football tweet ⚽ (@Football__tweet) April 2, 2025
Things took a more serious turn when after the final whistle, Mourinho seemed to pinch the nose of Buruk which then fell spectacular on the ground.
“He hugged my nose from behind while I was getting procurricted. There was a slight scratch. Of course, this is not a very beautiful and elegant thing,” said Buruk after the match. “I will not exaggerate on this subject, but it is not a very elegant thing.”
Controversial past of manager Mourinho
In February, Galatasaray accused Mourinho of “racist statements” after declaring that the local team bench had “jumped like monkeys” after a draw of 0-0 Super Lig.
Mourinho then received a suspension of four games, later reduced to two, due to derogatory and offensive statements to the Turkish referee and accusations of chaos and troubles in Turkish football after the same match.
In 2011, when Mourinho was the manager of Real Madrid, he received a ban on two games for pushing the assistant coach of Barcelona, Tito Vilanova, in his eyes.
After Wednesday’s victory, Galatasaray had fun in Mourinho, publishing a photo of the Portuguese manager with Buruk and the legend “that you should not attack, you should digest” on social networks.
In another article, with a video showing a cartoon version of Mourinho, the club wrote “Galatasaray drives you crazy”.
Mourinho’s team is six points behind Galatasaray in the League classification, with a match in hand.
With agency entries
