Porto coach slams Benfica mentor

– Porto coach Julen Lopetegui ( left) left the usual cliches aside as he launched a scathing attack on his Benfica counterpart Jorge Jesus, saying he had lost respect for the Portuguese after their clash on the pitch last month.

The coaches were involved in a heated exchange after their teams drew 0- 0 in a top-of-thetable clash at Benfica’s Stadium of Light two weeks ago and had to be pulled apart by team officials.

“The coach of Benfica talks a lot, he says what he wants and he talks about everyone. I have the maximum respect for my fellow coaches, all of them, and I also had respect for him,” Spaniard Lopetegui told reporters following Sunday’s 2- 0 win over Gil Vicente.

“I lost that respect when he contradicted

Lisbon

himself in comments he gave to a newspaper, giving them the wrong impression of what he had said to me. That revealed an enormous lack of class for someone who has so much experience in this profession.”

Porto are second in the league and need leaders Benfica to drop four points in their last two games to have any chance of overhauling their rivals.

Lopetegui also hit out at reports he had singled out goalkeeper Fabiano for criticism in front of the team following their 6-1 defeat to Bayern Munich in the Champions League.

“It’s unbelievable. When there is no information, they decide to invent something and the news about Fabiano was a fabrication,” he said. – Reuters