Jose Mourinho has accused Real Madrid boss Rafael Benitez of “destroying the best team in Europe” when the Spaniard replaced him at Inter Milan in 2010.
The Chelsea boss spoke after Benitez’s wife joked her husband was “tidying up” another Mourinho “mess” at Real.
As well as Real, Benitez also managed Chelsea – although he did not directly replace Mourinho at either club.
“The lady is a bit confused,” Mourinho, 52, said after Chelsea’s International Champions Cup win over Barcelona.
“Her husband went to Chelsea to replace Roberto Di Matteo and he went to Real Madrid and replaced Carlo Ancelotti.
“The only club where her husband replaced me was at Inter Milan, where in six months he destroyed the best team in Europe at the time.”
Not content with setting the record straight, Mourinho then made a jibe about Benitez’s physical shape.
He said that if Montserrat Seara, Benitez’s wife, focused on taking care “of her husband’s diet” then “she will not have any time to talk about me”.
Seara appears to have re-ignited a sometimes prickly relationship between Mourinho and Benitez, who have won a host of domestic and European honours between them.
The two managers previously clashed when they were in charge of Chelsea and Liverpool respectively.
Source: BBC