4 famous touchline bust-ups involving Jose Mourinho

#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.