European governing body Uefa are bound to be in touch – which is where we probably should start.

In 2023, Mourinho was given a four-match touchline ban for his behaviour around the Europa League final when his Roma side were beaten by Sevilla in Budapest. Premier League referee Anthony Taylor was abused in the airport on his way home after footage emerged of Mourinho waiting in an underground car park after the match to question the official about his performance.

So, as he reflected on being red carded by another leading official in French referee Clement Turpin in Istanbul, Mourinho made reference to the previous incident.

“If I appeal I will get six months,” said Mourinho, when asked by an English journalist if he would appeal against his dismissal. “Since the Sevilla-Roma final there is nothing to do. That is why the future is better without European competition, so I don’t get upset.”

This was a follow-up to his first answer, to the man from another broadcaster who he knows exceptionally well, which in itself built on something he said in the lead-up to the game which suggested after spells with Chelsea, Manchester United and Tottenham, his time in the Premier League may not be over.

“The best thing I have to do is when I leave Fener is that I go to a club that doesn’t play in Uefa competition,” he said. “So a club at the bottom in England who needs a coach in two years, I’m ready to go.

“I don’t want to speak anymore about it. I want to speak about the game.”

Except this is Jose, so speaking about the game comes with loaded answers – including, at one point, suggesting the local media would be unhappy with the outcome of the game because they would have preferred Fenerbahce to lose.