Golf
Jose Mourinho makes savage golf joke about managing Gareth Bale on live TV
JOSE MOURINHO brutally joked that Gareth Bale was already thinking about his golf career during their time together at Tottenham.
Mourinho and Bale were reunited for pundit duties as Real Madrid beat Borussia Dortmund 2-0 in the Champions League final at Wembley.
And like Dortmund, Bale fell victim to a special football force.
The Wales legend, on loan from Real Madrid, scored 15 goals in 32 appearances as Tottenham endured an underwhelming season that saw them finish seventh in the Premier League in 2020/2021.
Five-time Champions League winner Bale briefly joined the pundits pitchside to discuss his former club Real Madrid’s greatness in Europe.
The retired Welshman, who is known for having a huge passion for golf, was then asked what it was like to play under the Special One at Tottenham.
Bale said: “I loved working with him.”
Only for his quick-witted ex-manager to hit back: “At that time he was already thinking about winning Augusta.”
The Augusta National is one of the most famous golf courses in the world and hosts the Masters every year.
Bale, standing alongside Manchester United legend Rio Ferdinand, burst out laughing and responded: “Playing Augusta, maybe. Not winning!”
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Bale was taunted about his love of golf throughout his time at the Bernabeu, having infamously held a flag which read ‘Wales. Golf. Madrid. In that order.”
He featured in a PGA Tour pro-am weeks after announcing his retirement from football at the age of 33.
Mourinho did concede that their time in north London was deeply affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, which saw matches played behind closed doors.
He said: “That was not football. COVID, empty stadiums… that was not football.”
The new Fenerbahce boss was in red hot form, offering a series of hilarious moments and fascinating analysis.
Another included a dig at Arsene Wenger, with whom he has a long- running feud.
Wenger, who is now Fifa’s chief of global football development, is pushing for a controversial change to the offside law.
The 74-year-old wants a rule tweak that would effectively mean there has to be “daylight” between an attacker and defender for it to be offside.
Presenter Woods saw Wenger in the stands and said it would be great if he was able to have a chat with them.
Mourinho brutally responded with a bemused look on his face: “Ask him about what he wants to do with the offside. Let me go before, please. It’s time for me to go.”