Rafa Benitez and Jose Mourinho have been on less than cordial terms ever since the former took over at Liverpool and the latter was in his first spell of managing Chelsea, and it seems the two have re-ignited their long standing feud in recent days.
Despite not managing in the same league as each other, the two can’t resist swapping broadsides, with Rafael Benitez’s wife Montserrat Seara saying earlier this week, “Real Madrid are the third of Jose Mourinho’s old teams Rafa has coached. We tidy up his messes. If you think about it, of course you end up crossing paths. There are only a few world-class clubs out there”.
Even though the jest from Rafa’s wife seemed to be in good humour, Mourinho couldn’t help but respond, saying, “The lady is a bit confused. Her husband went to Chelsea to replace Roberto Di Matteo and he went to Real Madrid and replaced Carlo Ancelotti. The only club where her husband replaced me was at Inter Milan, where in six months he destroyed the best team in Europe at the time”.
Had he left it there many would have chuckled at the pair’s renewed rivalry, but instead Mourinho went one step further and made a comment that many feel is misjudged at best, misogynistic at worst. He said, “if Benitez’s wife, focused on taking care of her husband’s diet then she will not have any time to talk about me”. Quite why Mourinho felt the need to make it so personal remains to be seen.
Rafa Benitez once said of his Portuguese rival, “Me and Jose were really good friends until Liverpool started beating Chelsea. Since then, he’s changed his mind”. Whilst Mourinho remains convinced that he’s the better manager, saying, “”I expected at least a thank you for the success I gave him at Inter. Ask the fans what they think of us”.
Whatever the reasons behind the renewed rivalry of the two managers, expect sparks to fly should Chelsea draw Real Madrid at any stage of this season’s competition.