Mourinho reacts to Ranieri and Leicester’s win

Matt Stead

Jose Mourinho has offered his reaction to being dethroned as Premier League champion by Claudio Ranieri and Leicester.

Tottenham’s 2-2 draw with Mourinho’s former side Chelsea meant that Leicester were crowned champions of England’s top flight for the first time in their history on Monday.

One year ago, Mourinho led his Chelsea side to a comfortable Premier League title, only for the Portuguese to be sacked as manager last December following a terrible start to the season.

Speaking to CAA Sports, Mourinho said, of Leicester’s victory: “I want to congratulate everyone connected to Leicester; players, staff, owners and fans.

“I lost my title to Claudio Ranieri and it is with incredible emotion that I live this magic moment in his career.”

Mourinho replaced Ranieri as Chelsea manager for his initial spell at Stamford Bridge in 2004, and the two have not enjoyed the most cordial of relationships since.

In 2008, Mourinho described his managerial rival as having “the mentality of someone who doesn’t need to win”. He then added: “He is almost 70 years of age. He has won a Supercup and another small trophy, and he is too old to change his mentality.”

Mourinho also criticised Ranieri’s command of the English language, as well as claiming that Chelsea sacked the Italian because they thought he was a “loser”.