José Mourinho is one of those coaches who is not only remembered for his sporting achievements, but also because he sells covers. In this sense, the Portuguese, in recent statements, once again showed the admiration he feels for Lionel Messi, whom he has had as a rival on several occasions.

'The Special One' recognized that the player who made him grow the most as a coach was the former FC Barcelona player. In the interview with the Brazilian channel 'Sporty Net', the technical director was clear and left no room for doubt.

"Every time I played against him, he forced me to think," 'Mou' pointed out, showing in this way that he had to be very creative in his tactical system to be able to stop him.

For Mourinho, no one trains Messi

In this sense, it is not a surprise that the current Fenerbahçe manager surrenders to Messi. And it is that, in addition to having to suffer him with the 'Casa Blanca', he also faced him as coach of Inter Milan and Chelsea.

For Mourinho, the Rosario player has everything and, from his perspective, no one can train him because he already knows everything. He also highlighted that Messi could teach him, something he made clear in another interview, but in 2024.

"I never got to train Lionel Messi, but no one can train Messi. It's absurd to think you can train him, because he was born with everything and already knows everything. He could teach me a few things. All you could say is that you had the honor of having him on your team," he said at the time.

Mourinho at Madrid: between glory and the great classics

José Mourinho's arrival at Real Madrid occurred precisely on May 26, 2010 for four seasons (but he only managed three campaigns, which were 2010/11, 2011/12 and 2012/13).

In his stage as coach of the 'merengue' team, the coach born in Setúbal left a large number of anecdotes, but also a series of results against FC Barcelona, which meant the highest point of the rivalry between the 'Casa Blanca' and Barça.

Thus, during that stage, Spanish football experienced one of its most intense rivalries. In just three seasons, 17 'Clásicos' were played between the 'blanco' team and the azulgrana team, divided between LaLiga, Copa del Rey, Spanish Super Cup and Champions League.

The balance was remarkably balanced: six victories for Barça, six draws and five triumphs for Madrid, reflecting the fierce competition that marked that era.

Despite Barça's dominance when 'Mou' was at Real, he managed to win the 2011 Copa del Rey, the 2012 League championship and the 2012 Spanish Super Cup.

Mourinho's cruelty with everything related to Barcelona

Mourinho seemed to be bothered by everything related to Barcelona. It should be remembered that before his arrival at Madrid, he managed Inter, with whom he eliminated the Catalan team in the semifinals of the 2009/10 UEFA Champions League.

The Italians won 3-2 on aggregate and after the referee's final whistle in the return leg that was at Spotify Camp Nou, José decided to celebrate the victory to the blaugrana fans in the face, that is, running through the field with his right arm raised and referring to the number 1.

However, 'Mou' is also remembered for off-the-field issues, as on one occasion he stuck a finger in the eye of the late Tito Vilanova, who at that time was Pep Guardiola's assistant.

Other remembered actions of 'The Special One' were when Messi just passed in front of him and the coach made the gesture that the '10' of Barça smelled bad or when in each press conference prior to the 'Clásicos' he attacked Pep.