 "Jose Mourinho pinches nose of Galatasaray manager after Turkish Cup loss marred by clashes between players")
Jose Mourinho it seems cannot stay away from controversies as the legendary football manager has now been accused of physically harassing Galatasaray’s coach. After Mourinho’s Fenerbahce lost 2-1 to local rivals Galatasaray in Istanbul on Wednesday, the 62-year-old Jose appeared to have pinched Galatasaray manager Okan Buruk’s nose as the former Turkey international collapsed to the pitch.
It was a highly explosive Istanbul derby in the Turkish Cup quarter-final as Victor Osimhen scored twice early on to give Galatasaray a healthy lead before Sebastian Szymanski pulled one back for Fenerbahce at half-time.
There were no more goals in the match, but there was a lot of off-the-ball action as police were forced to intervene later in the match to restore calm. A mass scuffle also broke out between the teams as the referee was forced to send off three players including two from Galatasaray.
There's always 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 appeared to pinch Buruk’s nose who then fell dramatically to the ground.
“He squeezed my nose from behind while I was going on. There was a slight scratch. Of course, it’s not a very nice and stylish thing,” Buruk said after the match. “I won’t exaggerate about it, but it’s not a very stylish thing.”
Manager Mourinho’s controversial past
In February, Galatasaray accused Mourinho of ‘racist statements’ after he said the home side’s bench had been “jumping like monkeys” following a 0-0 Super Lig draw.
Mourinho was then given a four-match suspension, later reduced to two, due to derogatory and offensive statements towards the Turkish referee and accusations of chaos and disorder in Turkish football, after the same game.
Back in 2011, when Mourinho was Real Madrid’s manager, he received a two-match ban for poking Barcelona assistant coach Tito Vilanova in the eye.
After Wednesday’s win, Galatasaray poked fun at Mourinho, posting a photo of the Portuguese manager with Buruk and the caption ‘You should not attack, you should digest’ on social media.
In another post, with a video showing a cartoon version of Mourinho, the club wrote ‘Galatasaray drives you crazy’.
Mourinho’s side are six points behind Galatasaray in the league standings, with a game in hand.
With agency inputs
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