Jose Mourinho has explained how he dodged a UEFA touchline ban in 2005 in charge of Chelsea.
Although the papers reported the incident then, Mourinho revealed in an exclusive interview with beIN Sports that he got into the club’s dressing room through the help of the kit man who stowed him away in the basket. The ban was effective during the quarter-final match against Bayern Munich.
“I go to the dressing room during the day so I was there from midday and the game is seven o’clock. I just want to be in the dressing room when the players arrive. “I went there and nobody saw me. The problem was to leave after. And Stewart Bannister the kit man put me in the basket. It was a little bit open so I could breathe. But when he is taking it outside the dressing room, the UEFA guys were following and desperate to find me so he closed the box and I couldn’t breathe! When he opened the box I was dying! I am serious! I was claustrophobic, I promise! It’s true!” Mourinho revealed.
The Blues had won the first leg with a 4-2 margin and proceeded on a 6-5 aggregate. They were defeated by Liverpool in the semi-finals.