London: Chelsea coach manager Jose Mourinho said on Friday he genuinely felt sorry for Arsene Wenger after Arsenal’s Champions League final defeat by Barcelona.

Mourinho, a former Barcelona assistant coach, said he had mixed emotions but said he believes his verbal sparring partner Wenger deserves to add the Champions League to his already impressive CV.

Mourinho has been at loggerheads with Arsenal and their French coach ever since the Ashley Cole “tapping-up” affair while the Chelsea manager claimed last summer that the Premier League fixture list gave Arsenal an unfair advantage.

Mourinho even admitted he had been fortunate to win the 2004 European Cup with Porto and said: “With the career that Wenger has behind him I feel he deserves to win the Champions League one day.

“You look at the first line coaches in Europe like myself, Ancelotti, Ferguson, Rijkaard, Benitez and perhaps they all have the luck to be European champions.

“I think Wenger deserved it and I did feel sorry for them. Arsenal played very well and it was hard for them to do more than they did. The players were very tired and were in no condition to change the result. (Reuters)