Juve furious amid Mourinho claims of ref favours

Juventus reacted with fury on Tuesday after Inter Milan coach Jose Mourinho implied the club received favourable treatment from referees.

Mourinho made the comments at a press conference which saw him allude to the controversy which ensued following the Serie A leaders’ 3-3 draw with AS Roma - a match in which his men recovered to bag a point with the aid of a contested spot kick.

Mario Balotelli netted the penalty but Roma boss Luciano Spalletti was livid and accused Balotelli of diving.

Juventus coach Claudio Ranieri - like Mourinho a former Chelsea coach - saw fit to back Spalletti and that angered the Inter coach, who promptly insinuated that Juve received preferential treatment from referees.

“While Ranieri says he is behind Spalletti, I am on the side of coaches who have dropped points against Juve - and also on the side of those who are going to meet Juve in the coming weeks,” Mourino said ahead of Wednesday’s Italian Cup semi-final meeting with Sampdoria.

Detecting what he termed an “organised attempt to manipulate public opinion” against his team Mourinho then proceeded to slate his team’s rivals, prophesying that “Roma, with their great players, so many players that I’d like to have, will end the season with zero titles.

“(AC) Milan will finish the season with zero titles when the club has everything it needs to win - as will Juventus, who have won a lot of points thanks to refereeing errors.”

The temperamental Mourinho, accepting that there had been one occasion, in Siena, that Inter might have themselves benefited from a refereeing mistake, then turned on his heel and left the interview room.

Juve later issued a statement expressing the Turin club’s “indignation”, while calling on Inter “to disassociate itself publicly from such claims.”

Juve accused Mourinho of a lack of respect - to Italian football as well as to the club.

Inter, who could only draw last week at home to Manchester United in the Champions League round of 16, currently lead the table by seven points from Juve with 12 games left.