Five Famous Managerial Bust-Ups Involving Jose Mourinho

IBTimes UK takes a look at some of the most entertaining spats Jose Mourino has had with fellow manager sin his time in the dugout.

Mourinho v Guardiola

The most recent and at times the nastiest, this might not necessarily have been Pep Guardiola so much as the entire Barcelona side which Mourinho took issue with. While he started out as an assistant for Sir Bobby Robson at the club in the late 90s the relationship began to sour in 2005 after he accused manager Frank Rijkaard of speaking to referee Anders Frisk in the changing rooms at half time during a Champions League last 16 tie between Barca and Chelsea. He would go on to claim Lionel Messi learnt to cheat with the Catalan state and constantly insisted that the side received favourable treatment from referees.

When Guardiola came into the managerial position in 2008, beating Mourinho to the job if reports are to be believed, the Portuguese tactician's insults towards the club became even more personal. He was reported to UEFA a number of times for suggesting that Barcelona were favoured in matches and at one stage gouged the eye of current manager Tito Martino during a particularly heated confrontation.

While Mourinho only won 3 of 15 fixtures against Barcelona in Guardiola's time, when the Spaniard left the post in 2013, a biography penned by Guillem Balague revealed how much stress the rivalry with Mourinho had placed on him during his five years with the club. And while they might be in different leagues now, coaching Chelsea and Bayern Munich, the pair could meet once again in the Champions League, leaving open the continuation of one of football's biggest rivalries.

Mourinho v Wenger

Mourinho had some choice words to say about Arsene Wenger when the sides were competing for trophies in 2005. He told reporters of the Frenchman: "Wenger has a real problem with us and I think he is what you call in England a voyeur. He is someone who likes to watch other people.

"There are some guys who, when they are at home, have this big telescope to look into the homes of other people and see what is happening. Wenger must be one of them – and it is a sickness."

Wenger and Mourinho were never likely to see eye to eye with the former a big believer in creating good players rather than spending big, while the latter has won trophies with some of the most expensive squads in the world. At the time Wenger was particularly angry over the spending taking place at Chelsea under Roman Abramovich, which took the club to successive league titles.

And with Mourinho's return last summer to the Premier League it would appear the rivalry has been sparked once more with the managers arguing over transfers and scheduling already as they both compete for the title.

Mourinho v Ferguson

When Mourinho was at Porto he had a way of getting under Sir Alex Ferguson's skin. It was one of the first signs on the international stage that the manager would take advantage of his rivals' defeats and twist the knife further as a tactic. After winning against United 2-1 in the Champions League in 2004 Ferguson refused to shake Mourinho's hand. His reaction? "I understand why he is a bit emotional. You would be sad if your team gets as clearly dominated by an opponent who has been built on 10% of the budget."

While the pair were both masters of mind games and manipulating the opposition over time they looked to reconcile their differences. Many had touted Mourinho as a possible replacement for Ferguson should he retire but reports claimed that the United legend, along with Bobby Charlton, believed that his eye gouging incident in particular at Real Madrid was not of the class that a manager at Old Trafford should display. Meanwhile, a recent book by Spanish journalist Diego Torres claims that Mourinho cried when he found out David Moyes got the job over him though the manager has sought to deny this.

Mourinho v Ranieri

Mourinho's time with Inter Milan wouldn't have been the same without a spat with a manager in the Serie A. In this case it was Juventus's Claudio Ranieri. It all started before the pair were in Italy, with Mourinho taking over Chelsea from the manager in 2004. While Ranieri believed he deserved credit for the side which went on to win two Premier League titles in his absence Mourinho would have none of it, insisting he couldn't even speak decent English let alone coach the team to silverware.

So when Mourinho made the move to Inter, which only lasted two seasons but resulted in two Scudetto wins and Champions League glory, he couldn't help but reignite the feud.

"I am very demanding of myself and I have to win to be sure of things," he said in 2008. "This is why I have won so many trophies in my career. Ranieri on the other hand has the mentality of someone who doesn't need to win. He is almost 70 years old (he was 57 at the time). He has won a Supercup and another small trophy and he is too old to change his mentality. He's old and he hasn't won anything."

Mourinho v Benitez

Mourinho's battle with Rafa Benitez has had two rounds so far. The pair won't meet in the Champions League this season on account of Napoli being knocked out at the group stage but should they face one another in the future fans should get ready for round three.

It started in 2004 when both managers arrived on the scene in the Premier League with European and domestic ambitions. In 2005, as Liverpool defeated Chelsea in the semi-final to reach and eventually win the Champions league the manager commented: "It was a goal from the moon. The linesman scored the goal. The best team lost. After they scored only one team played, the other one just defended for the whole game."

Benitez would go on to stop Mourinho's dream of reaching a Champions League final with Chelsea once more in 2007 but the Blues had the edge in the league and Mourinho was very quick to remind his counterpart of this, saying after Liverpool won the FA Cup semi final in 2005: "Did the best team win? I don't think so. In the Premiership Liverpool have no chance. In the Premiership the distance between the teams is 45 points over two seasons. Liverpool are not a big team. To have not won the league for almost 15 years is not good enough."

While both Mourinho and Benitez eventually left the Premier League with the latter replacing the former at Inter Milan in 2010 they would cross paths once more as Mourinho took over Chelsea from the Spaniard who had a successful time as interim manager, winning the Europa League and getting the Blues back into the top four.

But Mourinho has been clear that this was no achievement, also claiming that Benitez had no long-term plans during his time at Chelsea and therefore left the side lacking when he departed.