Bombshell: Mourinho accused of "cheating" in Europe, Benfica boss under fire | OneFootball

Martin O'Neill accused José Mourinho of "cheating" in the 2003 UEFA Cup final, when the current Porto coach won the European competition, in a final against Celtic. The dragons won 3-2, but the Scottish team's coach that year has not forgotten that encounter.

Martin O'Neill was invited by Premier Sports to comment on the Chelsea - Benfica match, and took the opportunity to talk about José Mourinho: "I think he is an excellent coach. A really excellent coach. He is very, very smart. He just wanted to remind people how good he was"

"He is trying to downplay the situation, as if he had settled a little. José never settles. An excellent coach for what he did [at Chelsea]", added the coach who was defeated by the Benfica coach in the UEFA Cup final, in 2003.

Then, Martin O'Neill showed that the events of that European game are not forgotten in his memory: "That does not mean they didn't cheat throughout the UEFA Cup final, lying on the ground and going to Porto every time they scored".

The then Celtic coach ended, however, with praise: "He is one of the greats. A really fantastic coach. What he did at Chelsea, this idea of closing the shop and things like that. He knew how to win, that's the point. He won. And I have the utmost admiration for him, because he was a winner".

Check out the Chelsea fans' chant for José Mourinho:

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇵🇹 here.