Fenerbahce coach Mourinho: I think it is possible to be champion without winning the derby

Speaking at the press conference held after the match played at İRAMS Park, the Portuguese coach praised the performance of Slovenian referee Slavko Vincic.

The 62-year-old coach said the referee played a very good match and noted the following:

"I think it is possible to become champions without winning the derby. The referee was responsible for today's match being a big and good match. There was a good fight on behalf of both sides. One team wanted a draw, the other team wanted to win, but this is normal in football. The first thing they tried to do in the 20th second was to show our 18-year-old player a yellow card. They are very strong in underground strategy. If it was a Turkish referee, Yusuf would have been shown a card at the beginning of the match and I would have had to take him out of the game. The referee played a top-level match. I think the referee's performance was top-level. It was also a competitive match. It may not have been very good in terms of football beauty, but it was a competitive match. Those who watched this match abroad also watched a good match, and the main factor in this was the referee. I went to the referee's room after the match. I said to the first referee, 'Thank you for managing this big match well.' I said to the fourth referee, 'If you were there, this match would have been a disaster.' It was a very, very good match in terms of emotion and competition."

Claiming that Galatasaray is not a very good team, Mourinho continued as follows:

"We drew, this is the reality of today. We can't talk about ifs. We tried to win, they wanted a draw and at the end of the day the match ended in a draw. We have many matches ahead of us. We have the potential to win matches one after another. They have great players, they are not a very good team but they have great players. I met some of their players before and I saw them transform into something else, they were different. 'We are very good, we are very strong'. If they want to show that, then they want a foreign referee in every match. We saw what happens when there are foreign referees. They came home in UEFA, they had only one shot on goal against us at home. If they believe in their own strength, they want a foreign referee in every match."

Mourinho stated that Yusuf Akçiçek displayed an impressive performance in the match and concluded his words as follows:

"I have to thank him for his performance. You would have killed me if he hadn't performed well. I know what happens when you put an 18-year-old player in a match like this. Yusuf is not perfect but he will be there. I can't compare him to Varane because Varane has won a lot. I played him in the Champions League at that age. I have to thank the referee because in that position I mentioned everyone on the other bench was jumping like monkeys. Yusuf is a top-level player. Montella has a lot of good players but I'm sure he's very happy with his performance."