Jose Mourinho has underplayed Thomas Tuchel's two-year stint at Paris Saint-Germain by criticising the standard of football in France, insisting 'winning at PSG is not magic!'
The two managers will meet for the first time this evening as Tottenham host Chelsea in the Premier League, with both sides level in the table on 33 points.
Tuchel, who took over from Frank Lampard last week and was sacked as PSG boss in December, lauded Mourinho's managerial quality yesterday and while Mourinho was also full of praise for his opposite number, the Spurs boss did take a sly dig at the level in Ligue 1 compared to the Premier League.
Asked about the differences Tuchel faces in England compared to France, Mourinho said: 'Of course Ligue 1 is totally different [to the Premier League]. Two of my assistants come from the French league and they have experienced so many different situations.
'As an example, in January one of them was saying that the worst striker in the Premier League would play in any club in the French league but Paris Saint-Germain!
'The level is so, so high here. But Tuchel is a good coach. Of course, to win at Paris Saint-Germain is not a magic work! But he is a very good coach and he is used to working with very good players.
'He did that in Dortmund, he did it in Paris, so I think he feels in his natural habitat working with the players of Chelsea's level – and of course, he is a very good coach.'
Tuchel won two Ligue 1 titles, one French Cup, one French League Cup and two French Super Cups during his time at PSG and also led the Parisians to the final of last season's Champions League.
The German, who previously managed Borussia Dortmund from 2015-2017, took over from Lampard after the Englishman was relieved of his duties and the Portuguese admitted he felt 'very sorry' for his former player.
'One thing for me is very obvious is that it doesn't matter the club, it doesn't matter the manager, if he is my friend, do I have any kind of personal relationship, is it a club that tells me something, is it a club that tells me nothing - I feel always very, very sorry when a colleague loses his job,' Mourinho insisted.
'I know what it means, I have felt it already. I know what is the frustration of a work that you have in place and one day you wake up and you are not able anymore to give your best to improve things.
'I feel always very sorry, even independent of it being Frank, one of the most important players of my career. Independent of that, I feel always very sorry.
'When we speak about my next opponent, Chelsea in this case, they changed the manager but they didn't change the players – and the players are very good.
'They have a very good squad with potential so for sure it's going to be a tough match.'
Spurs themselves are in need of a drastic upturn in form, having lost their last two games against Liverpool and Brighton and with just two wins in their last nine Premier League matches.
'The magic potion is to win football matches again,' Mourinho stated.
'That is what brings that happiness back because as I used to say, to be a football man with everything that you have, you are only happy when you win matches, when you play well, when you are a striker and you score goals, when you are a goalkeeper and you keep clean sheets, that is the nature of the people that dedicate their lives to football.
'The magic potion is of course to win – but what can you do before you win? What can you do to improve the situation? Work hard and that is what we did.'
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