The Porto manager, Julen Lopetegui, has stressed he has complete faith in the referee Antonio Miguel Mateu Lahoz, who will officiate his side’s game against Chelsea at the Estádio Dragão on Tuesday, despite suggestions the Spaniard is close to José Mourinho from his time at Real Madrid.
Lopetegui, a Basque whose playing career included a spell as a back-up goalkeeper at Barcelona which briefly overlapped with Mourinho’s time at the club under Sir Bobby Robson, was asked about Lahoz by local media on Monday. The Valencia official, who is apparently known in La Liga for his leniency, was marked out after drawing regular praise from the Portuguese over his three-year spell coaching Real Madrid.
Mourinho had once claimed he would be happy for Lahoz to referee all Real’s games, an opinion that did not change even when he dismissed Iker Casillas – the Spain goalkeeper with whom Mourinho would fall out with so infamously towards the end of his time at the Bernabéu and who will start for Porto tomorrow – in a 1-0 win at Espanyol in February 2011.
“I don’t know if it was a red card or not but I like Mateu,” Mourinho said at the time. “He is a great referee and he lets the game flow. Referees can make mistakes but I still maintain he is a great referee. I like him because he doesn’t have any time for divers and, in my team, there are no divers.”
The suggestion building in Portugal was that Lahoz and Mourinho remain friends which might, in some way, influence this game. “But he’s a great referee, a great professional,” said Lopetegui when asked on Monday. “Mr Mourinho can have the friends he wants, I don’t care. I know [Lahoz] is a great professional.”
The Porto manager was reluctant, too, to discuss his opposite number, who claimed a Uefa Cup and Champions League during his time at the club, “other than to say Mr Mourinho is a wonderful coach and did great things at Porto. Winning trophies. I will respect that.”
Lopetegui was quick to dismiss suggestions that Casillas, who will overtake Xavi as the player who has made the most appearances in the Champions League when he features for the 152nd time at the Dragão, would be more motivated for the fixture against Mourinho. The pair’s relationship had deteriorated markedly over the coach’s time in Madrid, with Real’s iconic World Cup winner eventually finding himself ostracised and out of the side.
The 34-year-old severed ties with the club in the summer and moved to Portugal having broken down in tears as he announced his departure. Lopetegui said the goalkeeper had brought a dash of “glamour” to the Porto side in the period since. “Iker is a humble person who came to the right club at the right time,” added the centre-half, Maicon. “He has brought great experience and I love working with him.”
The Brazilian defender claimed he is “ready mentally and physically” for his duel with Diego Costa, who is eligible for this game while serving a three-match domestic suspension for his clash with Arsenal’s Laurent Koscielny earlier this month.