When the new material is falling flat, break out the greatest hits.
Jose Mourinho’s first — and possibly only — season at Fenerbahce hasn’t gone entirely to plan on the pitch, but when it comes to expected antics (xAn), it’s pretty much how you would expect.
The latest incident came on Wednesday night when his side faced arch-rivals Galatasaray in the quarter-finals of the Turkish Cup.
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After the final whistle had blown on a typically spicy contest, which Galatasaray had won 2-1 at Fenerbahce’s Sukru Saracoglu stadium, Mourinho threw a Carolina reaper pepper into the mix by grabbing the nose of his opposite number, Galatasaray head coach Okan Buruk. Buruk promptly hit the turf in a relatively theatrical fashion, but then again, how would you react if your opponent, who is a 63-year-old adult, had pinched your nose in an adversarial moment?
After Fenerbahce’s loss to Galatasaray in the Turkish Cup, Jose Mourinho appeared to pinch the nose of Okan Buruk, the Galatasaray manager. pic.twitter.com/pKrBx0GBqi
— The Athletic | Football (@TheAthleticFC) April 2, 2025
Fenerbahce winger Irfan Can Kahveci attempted to usher Mourinho away from the scene, before a phalanx of security guards and Galatasaray players arrived. Mourinho was duly shown a red card by referee Cihan Aydin.
The incident called to mind the infamous occasion when Mourinho, while he was Real Madrid manager, stuck his finger into the eye of then Barcelona assistant Tito Vilanova during a post-Clasico melee at the 2011 Spanish Super Cup. Mourinho apologised for that incident a couple of years ago, but when presented with the opportunity to do something similar, he seemingly couldn’t resist.
“It’s not a nice thing to do,” confirmed Buruk to Turkish media after the game, but did his best to play down the incident. “I won’t exaggerate this, it’s not a big deal. We should have shaken each other’s hands before and after the match.”
If playing it down was official club policy, the memo didn’t quite reach the Galatasaray social media team, who posted a cartoon on X depicting Mourinho as being obsessed with their club and ending up wearing a straight jacket in an asylum, along with the caption ‘Galatasaray delirtir’ — ‘Galatasaray makes you crazy.’ There was not an excess of dignity on either side, it must be said.
Galatasaray delirtir. pic.twitter.com/8EzHuxgq4e
— Galatasaray SK (@GalatasaraySK) April 2, 2025
Alas, there was no immediate reaction from Mourinho: because he had been given a red card, he therefore wasn’t permitted to speak to the media, either to Turkish TV or in the customary post-match press conference. Fenerbahce had not responded to a request for comment from The Athletic at the time of publication.
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In the absence of any direct comment from either manager or club, it’s unclear what prompted Mourinho’s nasal assault. But the best guess is: it’s Jose Mourinho, and he simply cannot help himself.
It was at least slightly in keeping with the game as a whole. As ever with the Intercontinental Derby, it had been a lively affair: Galatasaray went into a 2-0 lead thanks to two early strikes from Victor Osimhen, one a penalty and one a rasping strike from the right side of the box. Sebastian Szymański pulled one back for Fenerbahce just before half-time, but that’s how the scoreline stayed.
Wednesday’s game was a typically fierce affair (Ahmad Mora/Getty Images)
That was partly thanks to former Tottenham defender Davinson Sanchez, who saved a near certain equaliser deep into added time with an acrobatic bicycle kick clearance off the line.
But just before the final whistle had blown, a mass brawl had broken out which led to three players — Fenerbahce’s Mert Hakan Yandas, plus Galatasaray’s Baris Yimaz and Kerem Demirbay — being sent off. That was a particularly strong achievement for Yandas and Demirbay, given they were unused substitutes and as such weren’t even playing in the game. One of Mourinho’s assistants, Salvatore Foti, also received his marching orders for his role in the scrap.
(Ahmad Mora/Getty Images)
It was also in keeping with Mourinho’s season more broadly. This was the third game between the two old rivals this season, Galatasaray having won one and the other ending in a 0-0 draw. The latter fixture was notable for Mourinho accusing the Galatasaray coaches of “jumping like monkeys” as they tried to get a decision in their favour from the officials.
That led to Galatasaray threatening legal action against Mourinho for “racist statements”, further accusing him of making “derogatory statements directed towards the Turkish people.“
Mourinho responded to the accusations of racism a week later, telling Sky Sports News: “They were not clever in the way they attacked me, because they didn’t know my past. They didn’t know my connections with Africa, with African people and African players and African charities.”
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The campaign has also been peppered with conspiracy theories and hints at dark forces being at work from Mourinho. In September he placed a laptop, showing a still image of an offside decision he believed had been unfairly given against his side, in front of some TV cameras. After the game against Galatasaray in February, which was officiated by Slovenian referee Slavko Vincic, he commented that “if a Turkish ref had refereed this match, it would have been a disaster”, a remark that earned him a four-match touchline ban and a $44,000 fine.
Galatasaray fans enjoying themselves at their arch-rivals’ home (Ahmad Mora/Getty Images)
Mourinho arrived at Fenerbahce last June in a blaze of publicity and propaganda, his appointment inspired by club president Ali Koc’s desperate desire to win the Turkish Super Lig for the first time since 2014, the longest dry spell in their history. Last season they gathered a whopping 99 points under former coach Ismail Kartal, but unfortunately for them the juggernaut that was Galatasaray won a record 102 points, and took the title.
Koc looked in danger of losing the presidency to his predecessor Aziz Yildirim, who had promised to appoint Mourinho had he won last summer’s elections. However, Koc claimed he had also been talking to the Portuguese coach, his appointment was confirmed in place of the unlucky Kartal and Koc duly won re-election at a canter.
Mourinho was initially wildly popular, but as the season has progressed patchy results and unattractive football have eroded his standing among the Fenerbahce fans. They were knocked out of the Champions League qualifiers by Lille in August, then eliminated from the Europa League by Rangers in March. The title race is not yet over: last weekend Galatasaray lost to Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s Besiktas, cutting their lead at the top of the table to six points, and Fenerbahce have a game in hand.
However Wednesday’s was Mourinho’s last chance this season to beat Galatasaray, which he was unable to do. It’s unclear whether he will get another chance next season. If he does leave, he can at least do so knowing he was true to himself.
(Header photo: Yagiz Gurtag/Middle East Images/AFP via Getty Images)
