José Mourinho sacked by Fenerbahçe after Champions League exit | OneFootball

The Turkish team fell 1-0 to Benfica in the final qualifying round of Europe's most important tournament, and the directors decided to dispense with the services of the historic Portuguese coach.

José Mourinho was dismissed by Fenerbahçe after being eliminated from the UEFA Champions League last Wednesday against Benfica in the final qualifying round. After a 0-0 draw in the first leg, the Turks lost 1-0 at the Estadio Da Luz and dropped to the Europa League. The management could not tolerate this result (and other painful ones they had accumulated) and decided to dispense with the services of the historic Portuguese coach.

Fenerbahçe announced the decision through a message on their official social media: «We have dismissed José Mourinho, who has been the coach of our professional football team since the 2024-2025 season. We thank him for his efforts for our team and wish him success in his career«.

This closes a cycle that began in June of last year and lasted 62 matches. In them, the team from the Turkish capital achieved 37 victories, 14 draws, and 11 defeats. They were eliminated twice in the final qualifying round of the Champions League, in the Europa League they fell in the round of 16 against Rangers, and domestically they were overshadowed by their eternal rival, Galatasaray. They finished second in the league and were eliminated in the quarterfinals of the cup.

The post by Fenerbahçe announcing José Mourinho's dismissal.

Even though the numbers weren't bad, the painful defeats mentioned earlier led to the Portuguese's dismissal, who also had some controversial attitudes as he is known for. In February, after a derby against Galatasaray, he was suspended for four matches for accusing all Turkish referees of favoring his rival. Two months later, on the day they were eliminated from the Turkish Cup, he grabbed Okan Buruk, the opposing coach, by the nose.

The hiring of a winning coach like Mourinho aimed to break two long-standing streaks for Fenerbahçe: their 17-year absence from the Champions League group stage and their 11 seasons without titles in the local league. Although he came close in both, the Portuguese did not achieve his goal and was dismissed. What will be the next challenge for ‘The Special One’?

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