Oriali: ‘Conte and Mourinho superstars of the bench’

Antonio Conte’s assistant Lele Oriali praises the Napoli coach and José Mourinho, with whom he won the treble at Inter in 2010: ‘They are superstars of the bench.’

Conte’s Napoli and Mourinho’s Benfica meet in the Champions League Round 6 on Wednesday.

It will be a special meeting for Conte’s assistant Oriali, an Inter legend who was part of Mourinho’s staff in 2010, when the Nerazzurri won the treble.

“Some matches aren’t like the others,” Oriali told Gazzetta.

“I would never want to play against Inter, and the ones against Mourinho always leave something behind.”

The solid bond between Oriali and Mourinho goes beyond the pitch.

“Only two people call me Gabriele: my mother and José. I don’t know why he likes it, and I like it too. For everyone else, I’m Lele,” said the former Italian midfielder.

Mourinho left Inter for Real Madrid right after winning the Champions League in May 2010, and Oriali expected the Special One’s departure at the end of that season.

“For a couple of months, the papers had been full of rumours about José leaving,” he said.

“He and I had an extraordinary relationship, as I have now with Conte, but some subjects remain taboo. One evening, without breaking any confidentiality, we ended up talking about it.

“We were only talking about what we had read. I made a joke: ‘You know that if you leave, they’ll fire me.’ Calmly and totally in control of the moment, Mourinho replied: ‘Gabriele, don’t think about what will happen. We’re writing history here, and we will succeed.’ Promise kept.”

Oriali has now built a strong relationship with Conte, joining his staff at the Italy national team and Napoli.

“We are talking about superstars of the bench. Coaches [Conte and Mourinho] who shape their teams so deeply that they capture the players’ souls,” Oriali concluded.

“For Mourinho and Conte, the players would talk through fire and that’s not just a figure of speech. Their history tells it, and the testimony of those who’ve been coached by them. Inside these coaches, there are strong human values.”