Former Manchester United boss Jose Mourinho saw his Fenerbahce side bow out of the Europa League
Former Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho was praised for his sportsmanship after Fenerbahce were knocked out of the Europa League on penalties by Rangers.
The Portuguese tactician had two ex-United players at his disposal with midfield duo Fred and Sofyan Amrabat featuring in Glasgow. At the beginning of the night, the Turkish club needed to overturn their two-goal deficit after Rangers’ 3-1 lead from the first-leg.
Sebastian Szymanski scored a goal in either half to take the tie beyond 90 minutes but both sides couldn’t be separated after half-an-hour of extra-time. It was another former United player who broke the hearts of the travelling supporters as Jack Butland made two fantastic saves before Mert Hakan Yandas blazed over.
Mourinho led Fred, who saw his spot-kick well saved by Butland, over to the away section and saluted the supporters. His actions in the lead-up courted praise from Rangers icon Ally McCoist.
“Just going to say what I saw was unbelievable,” said the co-commentator. “Mourinho took his players over, quite rightly, to the corner to thank the Fenerbahce fans and on his way there got a wonderful, wonderful reception from the main stand and the enclosure at Ibrox which he greatly appreciated and gave them a wave as a thank you. Lovely gesture.”
Rangers will now face La Liga side Athletic Club Bilbao in the quarter-finals with the winner set to face either Manchester United or Lyon in the semi-final. Ruben Amorim’s side brushed off an early scare to beat Real Sociedad 4-1 at Old Trafford in the second-half, inspired by a Bruno Fernandes hat-trick.
