Francesco Farioli has revealed a moment of class from Portuguese rival Jose Mourinho.
Farioli won his first major honour as a coach last week, taking home the Primeira Liga title with FC Porto.
The Italian talent did so a year on from heartbreak at Ajax, and also against a competitive top three.
Yet despite Sporting and Benfica being in decent form, Porto eventually wrapped things up with games to spare.
And afterwards, one of their former coaches was straight on the phone.
“The first phone call I received after winning the title was from him [Mourinho],” Farioli revealed.
“I feel grateful for the relationship and respect we have for each other.”
Speaking more about their friendship, he added: “I’ve said many times that he’s a reference point, one of the coaches who has inspired me the most.
“As an Italian fan, a kid who grew up watching Serie A, I’ll never forget Mourinho’s Inter, what they did, the spirit they had, and the legacy he left.
“I had the opportunity to meet him, to have contact with him before arriving here.
“I spoke with him last summer, before coming here, he described to me what FC Porto means and gave me excellent references about the club and the city.
“Between the two of us there’s a very frank and direct relationship, despite having been rivals, despite having fought on the field for everything we tried to win, but always with enormous respect for each other’s work.”
Adding praise for Sporting and Rui Borges, he finished: “The magnitude of our success is largely due to the magnitude of our rivals.
“Our rivals are magnificent, two giants who have shown this both domestically and at the highest level in Europe. It’s quite clear what we’ve achieved.
“Sporting-wise, I have the utmost respect for both, for their teams and the quality of their players, who are on the radar of the main European teams.”
Farioli’s Porto future
Due to his success, Farioli continues to be linked with a move away, and was reportedly one of Chelsea’s top targets when Enzo Maresca departed in the winter.
He signed a new deal in Porutgal at the time, and clearly has no regrets.
“This is where I am and where I want to be, because we are still at the beginning of our journey,” he said.
“We took the first, important step. We come from a very important achievement, we have just finished the celebrations, and we are now planning and organising for the next season.
“We came from four difficult years without titles. The size of this club demands trophies for the museum.
“We had to start from very far back, a great distance from our two rivals. We wanted to take steps in the right direction. This was our objective from the beginning of the season.
“We restructured things, I counted on people who have been with me from the past, we welcomed Lucho, André Castro, a mix of people and energies, and we gave our all.
“There were many emotions and difficulties to overcome. The first was the loss of Jorge (Costa), he is not here physically, but he was always with us. All of this together put us in this position today.”
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