Fair Play: Jose Mourinho asserts victory in fair competition against Pep Guardiola on Premier League trophies won remark

World-renowned football manager Jose Mourinho has fired back at Manchester City coach Pep Guardiola, who recently made a remark about their Premier League title count. Guardiola claimed 'he won three, I won six' titles, to which Mourinho responded by stating that he won his PL titles 'fairly'. This response comes amidst City facing 115 charges for allegedly breaking English FA's financial fair play rules. Mourinho, who has managed top clubs in English football including Chelsea, Manchester United, and Tottenham Hotspur, is not one to shy away from a confrontation, especially when it comes to defending his achievements on the field.

The defending Premier League champions are going through their roughest and lowest patch since Pep took over almost a decade ago, losing seven straight matches on the trot across all competitions. 

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Following another blow at Anfield, the home fans began chanting, 'You’re getting sacked in the morning’, to which Pep held up six fingers in response, indicating the number of PL titles he won with the club thus far. That, however, brought back the memories of Jose Mourinho doing the same while managing United, where he held up three fingers to the opposing fans during an underwhelming campaign. 

Man United sacked Mourinho soon after (in December 2018) following a loss to Liverpool. 

Would Pep suffer similar fate?

Meanwhile, upon asking Pep if he could suffer the same fate, he said perhaps not because he won more titles than Mourinho. 

‘I hope not in my case…he won three, I won six…but we are the same like that. It was just to make our fans feel that what we have done is extraordinary. I want to prove that we are an incredible football club. Sooner or later, it’s going to be the end, but I will try to extend as much as possible for the best of my club,’ Guardiola said.

Responding to Guardiola’s comments, Jose said, "Guardiola said something about me... he won six trophies, and I won three, but I won fairly and cleanly.” 

"If I lost, I want to congratulate my opponent because he was better than me. I don't want to win by dealing with 150 court cases,” Jose continued as quoted by Turkish outlet Hurriyet ahead of his team Fenerbahce's clash with Besiktas.

Meanwhile, a probe is underway into 115 charges levelled against Manchester City, with any decision expected to come before the end of the season. 

(With inputs from agencies)