Jose Mourinho failed to lead Fenerbahce to the Champions League group stage after losing to Lille in the play-off round over two legs, with an aggregate score of 3-2.
Fenerbahce lost the first leg in France 2-1, before securing a 1-0 win in normal time in the second leg. However, a last-gasp goal from Jonathan David in extra time knocked the “Special One’s” team out and sent them to the Europa League.
Immediately after the match, Mourinho went to the media and engaged in his favorite pastime of downplaying his club, and at a very early stage, to justify his European failure.
The Portuguese coach said, “Not qualifying for the Champions League means we’ve lost financially and missed out on the opportunity to play against the biggest teams in the world.”
He added, “But there’s a clear fact: we’ll never win the Champions League and we won’t even be able to reach the final.”
He continued, “We’re now going to the Europa League and we can put in a really great performance, even if the format seems very strange.”
He concluded, “We play 8 matches against different opponents, 4 at home and 4 away. It’s strange, but money makes the decisions in football now and we have to adapt to that.”
