Former Manchester United managers Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and Jose Mourinho will lock horns this weekend for the first time since April 2021.
Jose Mourinho took charge of Manchester United for a three year period between 2016 and 2019 before he was sacked and replaced by Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.
The Norwegian manager initially came in on an interim basis but impressed and managed to keep the job permanently until he was dismissed in November 2021.
It wasn’t long before, in April of that year, when Solskjær and United came face to face with Mourinho, who had moved to Tottenham Hotspur.
The game finished 3-1 to the Reds but it was a public spat between Solskjaer and Mourinho which is the most rememberable moment from that fixture.
When Solskjaer and Mourinho clashed in 2021
United’s manager was furious after a goal was disallowed after Son Heung-min had dived on the floor following minimal contact from Scott McTominay. Despite winning the game, Solskjaer slammed the Spurs forward.
“If that was my son and he stays down and he needs his mates to help him up, he doesn’t get food because that’s embarrassing, the game’s absolutely gone,” the Norwegian said on Sky Sports.
“They are conned. We weren’t conned, the referee was. Unfortunately the referee decided we are not playing football or VAR decided probably. I’m absolutely shocked if that is a foul.”
This prompted yet another iconic interview from Mourinho, who attempted to deflect from his team’s loss by criticising Solskjaer’s comments.
He said: “First of all, let me tell you something. I’m very, very surprised that after the comments that Ole made on Sonny. I just want to say that Sonny is very lucky that his father is a better person than Ole.
“I am a father. I think as a father you have to always feed your kids. It doesn’t matter what they do. If you have to steal to feed your kids, you steal.”
Solskjaer breaks silence on Mourinho spat ahead of Istanbul derby
That was the last time the two ex-United bosses met but they are now both working in Turkey and set for their first clash in over four years as part of the iconic Istanbul derby.
Solskjaer took charge of Besiktas earlier this year while Mourinho has been at Fenerbahce since last summer. The Portuguese boss sees his team five points away from Galatasaray at the top of the table and needs to win all of their remaining games.
Besiktas and Solskjaer will be looking to spoil the party in and move into third-place in the Super Lig table and get one over on Mourinho again.
In his pre-match press conference, Solskjaer was asked about his spat with Mourinho in their last game but the Norwegian assured that he has the utmost respect for the 62-year-old.
“It won’t be a duel between Jose and me, it will be between Besiktas and Fenerbahce,” he said. “I have great respect for Mourinho; he’s a very successful coach, and there are few with a track record like his.
“I’m looking forward to the derby and we have enough strength to beat any opponent.”
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United fans will likely be keeping an eye on the outcome of this game, which takes place on Sunday evening.
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