Mourinho fumes at ´traitor´ jibe after Classico red card

Benfica coach Jose Mourinho was left fuming after Porto assistant Lucho Gonzalez called him a “traitor” during O Classico.

Mourinho was sent off in the aftermath of Leandro Barreiro’s 88th-minute leveller at Estadio da Luz, which saw Benfica come from two goals down to draw 2-2.

Victor Froholdt and Oskar Pietuszewski put Porto in cruise control heading into half-time, with Benfica staring down the barrel of a first league defeat in 39 matches.

But they battled back to seal a share of the spoils, though the end of the game ended in feisty circumstances, with Mourinho sent down the tunnel after being shown a red card.

The Benfica boss was dismissed after he was adjudged to have kicked a ball towards the away bench, with an altercation with Gonzalez ensuing.

“Regarding the sending off, the Porto bench person who was also sent off called me a traitor 50 times in the tunnel,” Mourinho said. “I’d like him to explain: traitor to what?

“I was at Porto, I gave my soul to Porto. I went to Chelsea, Inter, Real Madrid, and Fenerbahce. I turned things around.

“I gave my all to the world, my soul, my life every day. That’s what professionalism is all about. Insults from fans are one thing. And that’s football.

“These are the same fans who, years ago, I couldn’t walk in the city with, who knelt at my feet. Now they insult me. No problem.

“But a fellow professional calling me a traitor? A traitor to what? To give everything to Benfica? If I leave Benfica tomorrow and go elsewhere, I’ll do the same. A traitor to what?

“I didn’t like it. I was wrongly sent off. The fourth official did a terrible job throughout the game and continued to do so when I told the referee that.”