Mourinho goads Pep: 'I won my Premier Leagues fairly'

Jose Mourinho says the Premier League trophies he won at Chelsea were achieved fairly, as he responded in typically combative fashion to Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola's comments that he'd won six English top-flight titles while the Portuguese had only had three.

Guardiola, whose team lost 2-0 at Liverpool on Sunday, held up six fingers to home fans to indicate the number of league titles he won in response to chants of "you're getting sacked in the morning."

Mourinho, while managing Manchester United, had similarly held up three fingers to opposing fans during an underwhelming league campaign, before being sacked in December 2018 after a loss to Liverpool.

Guardiola was asked at a press conference whether he could face a fate similar to Mourinho.

"I hope not in my case... he won three, I won six.. but we are the same like that," Guardiola answered.

In his response to the Spaniard, Mourinho alluded to City's charges over alleged violations of the Premier League's financial rules ranging from 2009 to 2018, which the club has always denied.

"Guardiola said something about me... he won six trophies and I won three, but I won fairly and cleanly," Turkish outlet Hurriyet quoted Mourinho as saying on Friday, ahead of his team Fenerbahce's clash with Besiktas.

"If I lost, I want to congratulate my opponent because he was better than me. I don't want to win by dealing with 150 court cases."

Mourinho has taken shots at City before, saying he was hoping he could add a fourth Premier League medal to his cabinet if City are stripped of their titles and United, who finished second in 2017-18, are awarded the Premier League trophy.

Guardiola and Mourinho have had a long-standing rivalry whoch really kicked off when they were in charge of Barcelona and Real Madrid in the Spanish league.

Following Mourinho's response, Guardiola reiterated "everyone is innocent until proven guilty."

Asked about Mourinho's remarks at his pre-match press conference ahead of Saturday's trip to Crystal Palace, Guardiola said: "It was a joke. But he's another one in the huge list that they want the team being in, I don't know, League One or the Conference.

"I would say to Jose the same - we are innocent until proven guilty, and after that we will see what happens. It is what it is. It was completely a joke.

"If I have offended him (Mourinho) I'm so sorry, but it was a joke. The fact is he has three and I have six. This is a fact. But the intention was completely fine.

"It is another one from the huge list in this country and more around the world that want us at the bottom.

"It's OK, it's fine. I've said many times wait for the sentence and everyone, especially in democracy, is innocent until proven guilty. Right? So we'll wait, and after we'll see."

with PA