‘Mourinho yelled at me after my only Inter appearance’

Ex-Inter and Bayer Leverkusen defender Giulio Donati explains why José Mourinho yelled at him after his first – and only – appearance for the Nerazzurri.

Donati, a product of Lucchese and Inter academy, played for the Nerazzurri and Bayer Leverkusen, the two teams meeting at the Bay Arena in the Champions League this evening.

The versatile defender played under Mourinho at San Siro but just made one appearance for the Nerazzurri in 2009-10.

“I was training with the Primavera team, but one day, Rivas sustained an injury, and the first team needed a centre-back,” Donati told Gazzetta.

‘Mourinho yelled at me after my only Inter appearance’

“Mourinho approached the pitch and called a random guy to cover his absence. Obviously, it was my turn. I ended up playing as a full-back and man-mark Zlatan [Ibrahimovic]. He hit me so many times in just ten minutes.”

Donati made his Inter debut in December 2009, but that was his only appearance for the Serie A giants.

The day after the game, Mou was even unhappy with the Italian defender.

“He yelled at me the day after my only appearance for Inter, in Coppa Italia against Livorno in 2009,” Donati revealed.

“He said I had left the pitch too quickly. In the last ten minutes, I needed to be subbed off because of cramps, but I was too quick to get to the bench. The day after, he said I should have walked rather than run so I would have earned precious time. We were only winning 1-0. He’s always been a strategist.”