By Kazeem Ajibola Shoyebo
The night was supposed to be about football. Instead, it became another chapter in José Mourinho’s long war with authority.
Now, the Special One will not be on the touchline when his team walks into the fire at the Santiago Bernabéu Stadium.
He has been suspended.
He has been silenced.
But not before making his message deafeningly clear.
Sent off during the stormy first-leg playoff clash against Real Madrid, Mourinho erupted in fury, accusing the referee of protecting Madrid’s stars and manipulating the fate of the tie.
“Three Real Madrid players were on yellow cards,” Mourinho thundered.
“They all should have been booked. The referee did not give it because they would miss the return leg.”
Then came the line that will echo across Europe:
“We know how these things work.”
But Mourinho did not stop there.
Drawing on his vast experience, the veteran manager made it clear he was not speaking out of emotion alone, but out of conviction built over decades in the game.
“I have been on the touchline for more than 1,000 matches. I am not naïve,” he said.
“I know the difference between coincidence and something that is not coincidence.”
He went even further, suggesting the referee made calculated decisions about who to punish.
“He knew exactly who he could book… and who he could not book.”
His red card means he is automatically banned from the decisive return leg under UEFA Champions League regulations — forced to watch from a distance while his players fight for survival inside one of football’s most unforgiving arenas.
For a manager who lives for nights like these… it is torture.
More than tactics, Mourinho’s presence is emotion. Pressure. Defiance.
Without him on the touchline, his players will walk into the Bernabéu without their lightning rod.
For Madrid, it is an advantage.
For Mourinho, it is an insult.
And for Europe, it is another explosion in a rivalry between the Special One… and the system he believes has never fully been on his side.
Because if there is one thing football has learned over two decades of Mourinho—
Never assume he is out of the fight.
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