'He called me a traitor 50 times!' - Jose Mourinho blasts Porto assistant after being sent off in Benfica's 2-2 draw with Liga Portugal leaders

Danish midfielder Victor Froholdt opened the scoring for Porto in the 10th minute, and Polish player Oskar Pietuszewski doubled their advantage shortly before halftime to put the visitors in a commanding position. However, the home side mounted a strong response in the second half, and eventually completed a remarkable comeback to salvage a crucial point, thanks to goals from Andreas Schjelderup and Leandro Barreiro.

Controversy erupted after Barreiro's 89th-minute equaliser, with Mourinho seen clashing with the Porto bench. The former Chelsea and Real Madrid boss was subsequently shown a red card, and used pushed his thumb and index finger close together in a gesture appearing to call someone small as he made his way down the tunnel. 

Speaking after the game, Mourinho said of why he was sent off: "The referee said he sent me off because I kicked a ball towards the FC Porto substitutes' bench. That's completely false. Many times, in our goals, I kick the ball towards the stands to give a lucky fan a chance. I know I'm not very good technically, but it was meant for the stands. I was wrongly sent off. The fourth official did a terrible job throughout the game and continues to do so when I told the referee that."

The 63-year-old then confirmed that Gonzalez was the man who drew his ire from the Porto staff, adding: "He called me a traitor 50 times. I'd like him to explain to me, a traitor to what? I went to FC Porto, I gave my soul to FC Porto, I went to Chelsea, I went to Inter, to Real Madrid, I went around the world and gave 24 hours of my life every day. That's called professionalism. When he went to Marseille, was he a traitor? A traitor to what? He could have insulted me in a way that I would have accepted better, but I think it was an attack on my professionalism, which is something I value so much."

Mourinho did, however, concede that Porto were the better side on the night, despite his side's stirring fightback. "Regarding the game: for a large part of it, FC Porto was closer to winning than we were. You can like them a lot, or dislike them, or even hate them, but FC Porto built a team with an idea," he said. "That's what they want, the way they play, the profile is suited to that style of play. They are a team with tremendous physicality. It's very difficult to play against FC Porto. They have four wingers, and which one is the fastest... They are far superior to us in the intensity of the game. 

The dramatic draw ultimately leaves the top of the league table exactly as it was. Porto maintain their position as league leaders with 66 points, preserving their crucial four-point advantage over second-placed Sporting, who recorded a 2-2 draw away at Braga this weekend.

Benfica, meanwhile, are still seven points adrift of Porto, but Mourinho is not quite ready to concede the title. "There are 27 points left. I consider it difficult to recover 7 points. In terms of goal difference, we should be very similar," he said. "We'll have to see in the future what the head-to-head record looks like. But 7 points doesn't seem easy to me. I've been saying this since the beginning of the season. It's very easy to identify how FC Porto plays, very difficult to play against them. And I don't think it will be easy for FC Porto to lose more points. But as long as it's mathematically sound, anything can happen."