Jose Mourinho was asked which player improved him the most as a coach and surprised by naming someone who hasn’t even played for him.
In a quickfire interview he was asked which player was the most responsible and answered Lionel Messi.
Watchers may have been expecting Frank Lampard from his time at Chelsea, Cristiano Ronaldo at Real Madrid or Javier Zanetti at Inter, but instead he named a rival.
Explaining why, he continued: “Every time I played against him, he forced me to think a lot.”
Mourinho has faced the Barcelona era Messi 24 times with Chelsea, Inter and Real.
Their encounters have been close with eight wins for the Argentine and seven for the Portuguese.
Yet Messi has netted 11 times in those games and recorded eight assists, showing just how difficult he is.
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