Jose Mourinho is a big character: The bottle-throwing, stat-trashing, De Gea-loving one

This season, his team accused of boring the Old Traffold faithful, but Jose Mourinho is at least providing his own pyrotechnics on the touchline.

The former Chelsea manager celebrated Marouane Fellaini's 91st-minute winner against Young Boys on Tuesday’s Champions League group match by throwing a crate of drinks bottles to the floor, capitalized on his post-match press conference to issue a message to his "lovers" and finally to declare De Gea "the best in the world".

Let's get started with it 

'You know I'm correct'

First of all, the celebration. Kurt Cobain, the Nirvana frontman famously marked the end of particularly satisfying gigs, sometimes just individual songs, by reducing his guitar to splinters against the nearest amplitude. 

Mourinho channelled his inner rock god as he took out his emotion on a basket of bottle waters.

There hasn't been this much scorn for a water carrier at Old Trafford since Eric Cantona was questioned for his opinion on Didier Deschamps.

Mourinho was greatly criticised by Rio Ferdinand for his reaction on BT Sport, with the United legend suggesting it was an attempt to have a grip on the limelight.

Jose disagreed.

"The ones who comment on football, not a lot of them have been on the touchline," he said. "For those who speak about expressing frustration on the bench I would invite them to come and sit there as a manager.

"Maybe they prefer lots of holidays in Barbados and they can go to the TV and use their electric dummies.”

"That is much more comfortable than being on the bench. I am pretty sure a proper football manager would never criticise another for what they do on the touchline. For the ones who have a nice life, it is different."

This is not Mourinho's first water bottle-based scenario - he was sent off and served an additional one-match touchline ban after kicking a water bottle intentionally during a Premier League match against West Ham in November 2016. 

Likewise, the former Arsenal manager, Arsene Wenger was sent off for booting a water bottle in frustration at Old Traffold in 2009. And in last season's draw with Arsenal, Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp apologized for throwing one to the floor. 

14 from 14

Mourinho was not in the mood to discuss the statistical print of his side's season either.

Manchester United are closer to the bottom of the Premier League table than they are to the top, and they’ve conceded more than four times as many goals as rivals Manchester City and Liverpool.

An 'expected goals' graphic produced by 

number-cruncher Michael Caley after the weekend stalemate with Crystal Palace showed the goalless draw result was exactly what they deserved.

“The most important thing is to qualify and for some of my lovers, and those that like stats, I am 14 seasons in the Champions League and 14 times my teams have qualified through to the group stages," Mourinho said.

"The season I was not in the Champions League, I won the Europa League."

The Portuguese has done his homework. Nothing wrong with that stat.

How Jose Mourinho's teams have fared in the Champions League
Stage	Seasons
Winners (x2)	2003-04 & 2009-10
Semi-finalists (x6)	2004-05, 2006-07, 2010-11, 2011-12, 2012-13 & 2013-14
Last 16 (x6)	2005-06, 2008-09, 2014-15, 2015-16, 2017-18 & 2018-19

'I know he wants to stay'

Mourinho did have praise for his goalkeeper though after David de Gea produced a superb sprawling save to prevent United from going behind earlier in the match.

The Spaniard is committed to Theatre of Dreams until the summer, with the club having an option to extend to 2020.

"He is a world-class player; the best goalkeeper in the world," said Mourinho.

"I know he wants to stay and the agent wants to do what the player wants. The board want him to stay and are working on that."