Former Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho sacked following Champions League defeat

Former Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho sacked following Champions League defeat

Former Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho has been sacked by Fenerbahce

Former Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho (Image: Getty Images)

Fenerbahce have sacked Jose Mourinho following their Champions League play-off defeat to Benfica.

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Former Manchester United manager Mourinho was appointed as Fenerbahce's new head coach on a two-year deal in June 2024 as the club looked to win the Super Lig title for the first time in more than a decade.

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However, Mourinho was unable to guide Fenerbahce to the title, as they finished second for the FOURTH season in succession. The Turkish outfit won 26 and drew six of their 36 league matches, ending up on a mammoth 90 points, but that wasn't enough to get them over the line, as Galatasaray came out on top once again.

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Following another second place finish, Fenerbache qualified for the Champions League third qualifying round. They got past Eredivisie side Feyenoord with a 6-4 aggregate win before going up against Primeira Liga giants Benfica in the play-off for a place in the league phase of Europe's elite club competition.

Unfortunately for Mourinho, he was unable to spearhead Fenerbahce into the Champions League, as they lost 1-0 on aggregate in a tight play-off clash with Benfica on Wednesday.

In the aftermath to Fenerbahce's defeat, the club have made the decision to axe Mourinho from his position. During his time in Istanbul, Mourinho won 37 and drew 14 of his 62 games in charge, recording a 59.7 per cent win rate.

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A club statement read: "Our Professional Football First Team's technical director, Jose Mourinho, who has been carrying out his duties starting from the 2024-2025 season, has parted ways with us. We thank him for his efforts for our team until today and wish him success in his future career."

Mourinho is the second former United manager to have been axed in the past 12 hours after Besiktas made the decision to fire Ole Gunnar Solskjaer following their Conference League defeat to Lausanne-Sport.

In a statement on the club's website on Thursday, Besiktas said: "Our contract with manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has been terminated following a decision made at the board meeting.

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"Following the meeting, our chairman, Serdal Adali, thanked Solskjaer for his services to date. We respectfully present this for the public's information."

Both Mourinho and Solskjaer enjoyed success at United.

First, Mourinho spent two-and-a-half years in Manchester, winning the Carabao Cup and Europa League and helping the Reds to a second-place finish in the Premier League.

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After he was sacked in December 2018, Solskjaer replaced him on an interim basis before getting the job permanently. He lasted almost three years in the position before he was axed in November 2021.

Since, Ralf Rangnick, Erik ten Hag and Ruben Amorim have been in situe at Old Trafford but none have got close to returning United to the top of English football. In fact, the Reds are falling further behind and suffered a humiliating defeat to Grimsby Town in the Carabao Cup second round on Wednesday.

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