Jose Mourinho has called out Antonio Conte for an ‘excuse’ after Benfica’s impressive Champions League win over Napoli on Wednesday.
It was a battle between two former Premier League managers at the Estadio da Luz with Mourinho’s Benfica side winning the match 2-0.
Richard Rios gave Benfica the lead and Leandro Barreiro scored after the break as Italian club Napoli were beaten by their Portuguese opponents.
Speaking after the game, Conte claimed Napoli had less time to rest than Benfica, lacked sharpness and were dealing with an injury crisis.
Responding to those comments, Mourinho said: ‘Saying Benfica were fresher physically feels like an excuse.
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‘We interpreted the game well, I decided to play Ivanovic rather than Pavlidis upfront and that changed the way we attack.
‘Pavlidis is someone who makes the kind of movements with the midfield that makes it easy for a team like Napoli to press him.
‘Ivanovic gives more instability to a team that defends with three.
‘The players showed character and intelligence, a Benfica mentality, which means when you are having the biggest difficulty, you step up.
‘We knew that without a win here, we were out, but now that we have six points, we’re in the running.’
Benfica are 25th in the league phase of the Champions League following their win over Napoli while Conte’s side are two places above them in 23rd with six games played in this season’s competition.
A total of 36 teams are in the league phase – and clubs must finish in the top 24 after eight matches to advance to the knockouts.
Conte claims Benfica had more time to rest
Speaking to Sky Sport Italia after Napoli’s defeat to Benfica, Conte said: ‘The truth is that we weren’t sharp from the very start.
‘Benfica, who had played on Friday compared to us on Sunday after a long run of tough games.
‘In those games, we used up a lot of physical and mental energy. I had talked about energy going into this match, because I knew that in the long run we’d pay a price.
‘We struggled today, they were above all at the start more aggressive. We wanted to be aggressive, but made a mistake with the press, allowed a dangerous attack, and it scared us.
‘So we were too stretched out in the first half, weren’t aggressive enough in the press, above all behind their midfielders. Having said all that, it’s understandable. We knew the difficulties of this match, and when they start to pile up with six in a row every three days, you will inevitably pay a price.’