Sorry seems to be the easiest word: Mourinho's apology won't be enough to wash away the disgrace

Jose Mourinho goes to the opponents dressing room to congratulate them on a remarkable win against his team. The same night, he apologises to the Spurs fans for humiliating defeat and Europa League exit.

Ok, we're not very familiar with this sportsmanship-above-all Mourinho's image. Still, it's obvious that the Portuguese tactician is aware of the horrific outcome against Dinamo Zagreb's underdogs. The Spurs were eliminated, albeit they went to the return leg with a huge 2-0 advantage after the first 90 minutes. However, Hary Kane and his teammates were swept off the pitch in Croatia by a group of rather unknown players, who were, blatantly clear, unimpressed with Mourinho's aura and Tottenham itself as one of the strongest Premier League sides.

A landslide 3-0 victory for the home team, and 3-2 on aggregate, means the end of the Spurs' Europa League mission. It also trashed the entire season for the experienced boss. An apology of his could be considered as a classy touch, but a fair chance it won't be enough to keep him in the dugout of the North London outfit.

"If I forget the last 10 minutes of extra time, where we did something to get a different result and go through, in the 90 minutes and in the first half of extra time there was one team that decided to leave everything on the pitch, they left everything there, sweat, energy, blood. At the end of the game, they left tears of happiness, very humble, very committed and I have to praise them, " said Jose Mourinho in the post-match interview and added:

A sensation in the Europa League: Spurs eliminated!

“For the respect that I have for my own career and for my own job, every match is an important match for me, and I believe for every Tottenham fan at home, every match matters.

“So, to say I feel sad is not enough, because what I feel goes much further than sadness. I’ve just left the Dinamo dressing room where I went there to praise the guys and I feel sorry that one team that is not my team won the game based on attitude, based on compromise. I feel more than sad and that’s it.

“I think that our performance is unacceptable. Big hearts, big determination beat us, so if we think that big hearts are not part of football, we are wrong, because big hearts are part of football and it was what they did.

“Football is not just about players who think they have more quality than others, the basics of football go beyond that. The basics of football are attitude and they beat us on that. Before the game I told the players risk of a bad attitude, I told the players at half-time the risk of playing the way we were playing, and it happened because I believe the players only realised the game was at risk when they scored the second goal, and the game went to extra time.

“On behalf of my team, I can only apologise to the Tottenham supporters," concluded Mourinho.

However, based on thousands of comments coming from exasperated Spurs fans, it looks like he is living on a borrowed time and with a little hope to extend his Tottenham journey. The Special One needs a magical comeback before the end of the season...