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Jose Mourinho says crashing out of Europe would have cost him his Real Madrid job

Image: Jose Mourinho: Says Champions League exit would have cost him his job

Jose Mourinho feels presiding over a UEFA Champions League exit similar to Manchester City's would have cost him his job at Real Madrid.

Scrutiny

It is the same kind of intense scrutiny successive Chelsea managers have operated under since he left Stamford Bridge in September 2007. Roberto Di Matteo became the latest casualty of Roman Abramovich's seemingly never-ending quest for complete perfection on Wednesday when he was axed, with Rafael Benitez named as his replacement on an interim basis. The Spaniard had a tempestuous relationship with Mourinho during his days as Liverpool manager, masterminding two Champions League semi-final wins over the Blues, including in 2005 when Luis Garcia took the Merseyside outfit to Istanbul with what Mourinho described as a "ghost" goal. But former Chelsea boss Mourinho put his differences with Benitez to one side to wish him good luck. "I like my old clubs to win," he said. "I always wish the managers of my former clubs well so I always wish good look to managers of my former clubs. "I wish good luck to Benitez."

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