16 March 2014

ROBERTO MANCINI: Jose Mourinho Is Not My Friend

Roberto Mancini says he and Jose Mourinho are not close and claimed that the Chelsea manager does not even like having friends.

The Italian stoked the flames ahead of Galatasaray's Champions League first-leg tie with Chelsea last month by saying that he built the Inter team that won the treble under Mourinho in 2009-10.

But the former Manchester City boss insisted that they were fair comments and that Mourinho took them to heart as Chelsea and Mancini's Galatasaray prepare to clash again in the return game at Stamford Bridge on Tuesday with the last-16 tie finely balanced at 1-1.


"I said some perfectly normal things," he told La Repubblica newspaper, "but someone stirred it up into controversy and he really did get offended.

"In Istanbul we saw each other and only said 'hello'. We certainly aren't friends.

"I don't think Mourinho wants to have friends, or maybe that's just the way he likes to appear."

Mancini was more complimentary about Antonio Conte's Juventus side, saying that the runaway Serie A leaders evoked memories of the Inter team he was in charge of between 2004 and 2008.

"I think Juventus can reach 100 points this season," he said. "We nearly did it seven years ago with Inter.

"This Juve really reminds me of our Inter, as we were just too strong for the rest.

"We had Patrick Vieira and Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Julio Cesar and Maicon, who I had sought out, then Hernan Crespo, Luis Figo, Dejan Stankovic.

"Juve have the best players, but that's not enough to win, as you need the right attitude. In that sense, Conte's done a great job."

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