4 famous touchline bust-ups involving Jose Mourinho

Jose Mourinho is a great manager, but at the same time, he is a man who seems to attract a lot of controversy wherever he goes. The Portuguese has established himself as one of the best coaches in the world since emerging on the scene in 2002, although things have not been quite smooth for him in recent years.

However, whether it is Porto, Chelsea, Inter Milan, Real Madrid or Manchester United, Mourinho has courted controversy at every club he has managed so far. He is a manager who loves to win, and often does not care to what length he has to go to lead his teams to victory.

As a result, touchline bust-ups have become synonymous with Mourinho since his managerial career began. The 55-year-old is known for winding up his opponents with mind games and, in truth, not many managers are able to withstand his tricks when it comes to such instances.

At Porto he managed to get into the heads of other managers; he did same during his first and second spells at Chelsea. At Inter Milan and Real Madrid, he was involved in a couple of touchline bust-ups too, and the situation has not changed in his time at current club Man United.

So, let’s take a look at four famous touchline bust-ups involving Mourinho and other managers:

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#4 Jose Mourinho vs Arsene Wenger

For many years, Jose Mourinho and Arsene Wenger were bitter rivals and they made encounters between Chelsea and Arsenal very interesting. The Portuguese always knew that he was Wenger’s nemesis and made sure he used that to his advantage whenever he faced the Frenchman.

Mourinho’s spats with the former Arsenal boss started when he first labeled Wenger a “voyeur” during his first spell in charge of Chelsea. Of course the then Gunners boss did not take lightly to that, but all those feuds were more verbal than confrontational.

However, in October 2014, both managers nearly came to blows during a Premier League game between the Blues and their London rivals. The build-up to the game was dominated by Mourinho demeaning his adversary by describing him as a “specialist in failure”.

But the real climax came at Stamford Bridge, with the Portuguese and the Frenchman going at each other on the touchline. It had to take the efforts of the Fourth Official to restore calm between both managers. Mourinho later lamented that “If it was me it would have been a stadium ban”.

#3 Jose Mourinho vs Tito Vilanova

Mourinho was seen poking Vilanova in the eye

Bust-ups on the touchline often excite neutral fans, as it brings an added dimension to football. The fact is, Jose Mourinho has often provided that sort of excitement, but his touchline behaviour against Tito Vilanova will go down as one of the most disgraceful moments in his managerial career.

While at Real Madrid, the Portuguese was involved in a mass touchline brawl when Los Blancos faced Barcelona in the Spanish Supercopa at Camp Nou in August 2011. In what was a heated encounter, the Barca bench was infuriated after Madrid left-back Marcelo went in with a hard tackle on Cesc Fabregas.

The tackle sparked a scuffle between both sides, but Mourinho’s actions during the melee were what made all the headlines. The Portuguese sneaked in behind his players and unexpectedly poked his finger into the eye of then Barcelona assistant manager Tito Vilanova.

At first, his actions were not seen, but they were captured on camera. Mourinho was later handed a two-game ban, while Vilanova received a one-match ban for his retaliatory slap. The Portuguese also refused to apologise to Vilanova.

#2 Antonio Conte

Mourinho and Conte didn't always see eye to eye

Just like he was with Arsene Wenger, Jose Mourinho was always on the back of Antonio Conte when the latter replaced him as Chelsea boss. A ‘jealous’ Mourinho started by complaining about the then Blues boss, saying Conte liked to unnecessarily make excuses about injuries to his players.

When that did not work, the Portuguese branded Conte’s Chelsea a “defensive” team and said the media never gave him (Mourinho) credit when his Blues side were playing basically the same type of football. By then, the Italian was already leading the London club to the Premier League title, having gone on an amazing 13-game winning run.

The big bust-up between both managers, though, came in March 2017 when Mourinho and his Manchester United side travelled to Stamford Bridge to face the Blues in an FA Cup quarter-final game. Around the 39th minute, Antonio Valencia went in with a hard tackle on Marcos Alonso, sparking a furious reaction from Conte.

However, Mourinho took exception to that, with the Portuguese confronting the Blues coach on the touchline. Both managers exchanged a few words, before being separated by the Fourth Official.

#1 Marco Ianni

Mourinho's furious reaction to Ianni's celebration in front of the United bench

Perhaps until Saturday, not many people knew who Marco Ianni was. However, thanks to Jose Mourinho, the Chelsea assistant coach is now one of the most-talked-about personalities in the Premier League. Ianni's celebration during Chelsea’s 2-2 draw with Man United drew the fury of the Red Devils boss.

After Ross Barkley had smashed in a last-minute equaliser, the Chelsea assistant manager ran across the United bench to celebrate, before speeding off into the dressing room. His actions were predictably not overlooked by Mourinho who nearly chased Iaani into the tunnel.

The Portuguese reacted angrily to Iaani’s ‘over the line’ celebrations, and it took the stewards' mighty efforts to restore calm. This is the latest in a series of touchline spats that Mourinho has been involved in since his managerial career began, but the 55-year-old handled things well afterward.

In his post-match press-conference, he revealed that both Ianni and Chelsea boss Maurizio Sarri had apologized, which he said he has duly accepted. The Mourinho of old certainly wouldn’t have let go that easily.