Fenerbahce sack Mourinho after Champions League exit

Fenerbahce fired Jose Mourinho after just over a year in charge.

Two days after Benfica knocked the Turkish side out of the Champions League play-offs, the Portuguese depart.

Fenerbahce thanked Mourinho for his efforts and expressed his gratitude in a statement, saying that the 62-year-old had “parted ways” with the organization. Later, a club official confirmed his dismissal to the BBC.

Mourinho, who has oversaw 10 clubs, including Chelsea, Manchester United, and Tottenham, led Fenerbahce to second place in the league in his first season in charge, but controversy surrounded his reign.

Following a 0-0 draw in February, Galatasaray, the champions, announced they would “initiate criminal proceedings” against Mourinho.

Mourinho filed a lawsuit against the club asking for 1, 907, 000 Turkish Lira (£41, 000) in exchange for the falsehoods, claiming he is the “opposite” of racism.

After being sent off in a 1-1 Europa League draw with Manchester United in October, Mourinho stated that he wanted to lead a team “at the bottom of the table in England” so that he won’t have to compete against Uefa.

Following a three-year stint at Roma, Mourinho won the only European title of the club, the Conference League, at Fenerbahce.

He won three Premier League titles during his two seasons at Chelsea, as well as the Champions League victories at Inter Milan and Porto.

He helped Manchester United win the Europa League for the first time in 2017 and their most recent European title.

When Mourinho became Fenerbahce manager in June of that year, he promised that his supporters’ yellow and navy shirts would become their “skin” and that their aspirations would also become mine.

However, things didn’t go as planned.

More than a year later, both sides are resentment-filled. After failing to achieve success at a club still chasing its first league title since 2014, the Portuguese coach was fired.

Compensation is still being debated. Although nothing has yet been resolved, a club source reported to BBC Sport that Mourinho could receive about 9 million euros (£7.8 million) and his assistants could receive an additional 2 million euros (£1. 7 million) from his assistants.

The goal for Fenerbahce’s board and supporters was to end Galatasaray’s dominance and end an 11-year title drought.

Instead, Mourinho’s tenure saw no derby victories, no trophy wins, and growing criticism of his team’s performance.

Mourinho was accused of playing uninspired football, while his management accused him of failing to follow in the footsteps of several players who had previously excelled. His more public altercations with the club’s management regarding transfers caused the strain to grow even more.

Mourinho argued that the team had not shown enough urgency in the transfer market before this week’s Champions League play-off against Benfica.

Something would have been done in the intervening months between the Feyenoord and Benfica matches if the Champions League had truly been important for the club, he said.

President Ali Koc and his board decided that the relationship could not continue despite the scheduled September presidential elections.