‘I was dying’ - Jose Mourinho admits he hid in laundry basket to beat ban in 2005

Mourinho, sacked by Manchester United in December, revealed how he skirted a touchline suspension on the eve of the 2005 quarter-final against Bayern Munich

Jose Mourinho admitted Saturday that he once got round a two-match ban by hiding in a laundry basket so he could give a team-talk before a Champions League match.

File image of former Chelsea and Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho. (Action Images via Reuters)

Mourinho, sacked by Manchester United in December, told BeIN Sports how he skirted a touchline suspension on the eve of the 2005 quarter-final against Bayern Munich by getting the Chelsea kit man to help him stow away in the basket.

“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,” the 55-year-old recalled.

“I went there and nobody see me. The problem was to leave after. And 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.”