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Jose Mourinho has hit back at Rafa Benitez’s wife, Montse, after she said that her husband was always clearing up his rival's mess at clubs.

Chelsea manager Mourinho dismissed the accusation by making a jibe about Benitez’s weight and claiming that the current Real Madrid manager had ruined the best team in Europe when he took over at Inter Milan.

Mourinho said: ‘The lady is a bit confused, with all respect. I'm not laughing, because her husband went to Chelsea to replace Roberto Di Matteo and he went to Real Madrid and replaced Carlo Ancelotti.

‘The only club where her husband replaces me was at Inter Milan, where in six months he destroyed the best team in Europe at the time. And for her to think about me and to speak about me, I think the lady needs to occupy her time and if she takes care of her husband's diet she will have less time to speak about me.’

The two bosses have been bitter enemies since their Champions League semi-final clashes in 2005 and 2007, when Benitez, then at Liverpool, beat Mourinho’s Chelsea team twice, with much controversy over Luis Garcia's so-called ‘ghost goal’ in the 2005 match. Mourinho enjoyed better success in the Premier League, wining the the title in 2005 and 2006.

Benitez took over Mourinho’s Treble-winning Inter side in 2010 but left after six months despite winning the Club World Cup.

There was five years between Mourinho leaving Chelsea and Benitez taking over as interim manager in 2012. He won the Europa League but was gone in six months with Mourinho returning for his second spell at Stamford Bridge.

Benitez was recently appointed Real Madrid boss - two years after Mourinho left the Bernabeu.