Galatasaray said they would “initiate criminal proceedings” against Mourinho after claiming he made “racist statements” following the teams’ 0-0 draw on 24 February.

“They [Galatasaray] were not clever in the way they attacked me, because they didn’t know my past,” Mourinho told Sky Sports.

“They didn’t know my connections with Africa, with African people and African players and African charities.

“So instead of going against me, I think it boomeranged and went against them.”

Following the Istanbul derby, Mourinho said the home bench had been “jumping like monkeys” during the game, with Fenerbahce subsequently saying Mourinho’s comments had been taken “completely taken out of context”.

Mourinho, 64, has also filed a lawsuit against Galatasaray seeking damages worth 1,907,000 Turkish Lira (£41,000).

“Everyone knows who I am as a person. Everybody knows my bad qualities, but that is not one of my bad qualities. Exactly the opposite!” he added.

“The most important thing is I know who I am, and the attack accusing racism was a bad choice.”

Former Ivory Coast striker Didier Drogba and ex-Ghana midfielder Michael Essien, who both played under Mourinho at Chelsea, came out in defence of the former Manchester United coach in the aftermath of Galatasaray’s allegations.

“I thank the people who didn’t have a problem to speak [out], especially my boys, my former players. They were a very important voice,” said Mourinho, speaking before Thursday’s Europa League last-16 match against Rangers.

In addition to his comments about the Galatasary coaching staff after the Istanbul derby, Mourinho also repeated his criticism of Turkish referees, saying it would have been a “disaster” to use an official from the country.

The match was refereed by Slovenian Slavko Vincic after both clubs requested a foreign official take charge of the fixture.

Mourinho was handed a four-match ban – which was later reduced to two matches – by the Turkish Football Federation (TFF).

Mourinho was penalised for making “derogatory and offensive statements towards the Turkish referee [fourth official]” and because he “accused Turkish football of chaos and disorder with insulting and offensive statements towards both the Turkish football community and all Turkish referees”.

Galatasaray are top of the Turkish Super Lig, four points above Fenerbahce.

Videos on social media appear to show the 17-year-old Spaniard being taunted by a section of home fans as he celebrated his 77th-minute goal by pointing to his name on the back of his shirt.

Robert Lewandowski scored twice and Raphinha completed the scoring as Barcelona cruised to a 4-0 win to take them six points above their rivals at the top of La Liga.

A La Liga statement read: “La Liga will immediately report the racist insults and gestures received by Barcelona players to the Hate Crimes Section of the National Police Information Brigade, as well as informing the Co-ordinating Prosecutor of the Hate Crimes and Discrimination unit of the State Attorney General’s office.

“La Liga vehemently condemns the incidents at the Santiago Bernabeu and remains firm in its commitment to eradicate any kind of racist behaviour and hatred inside and outside stadiums.”

Real Madrid earlier said they had opened an investigation to identify the fans.

A club statement read: “Real Madrid strongly condemns any kind of behaviour involving racism, xenophobia or violence in football and sport, and deeply regrets the insults that a few fans uttered last night in one of the corners of the stadium.

“Real Madrid has opened an investigation in order to locate and identify the perpetrators of these deplorable and despicable insults so that the appropriate disciplinary and judicial measures can be taken.”

The Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) and La Liga have taken steps to tackle an increase in racist abuse by introducing measures including partial stadium closures.

Last week four people were arrested over allegedly conducting an online campaign of hate and racism against Real Madrid forward Vinicius Jr.

The campaign encouraged supporters to racially abuse the 24-year-old Brazilian, asking them to wear black face masks to avoid being identified, police said.

Three Valencia fans were sentenced to eight months in prison in June for abusing Vinicius at a match in May 2023.

Monaco striker Folarin Balogun, Crystal Palace defender Chris Richards and Juventus pair Timothy Weah and Weston McKennie were all targeted online after the hosts lost the Group C match in Atlanta.

Weah, 24, was shown a straight red card in the 18th minute after punching Panama’s Roderick Miller in the head in an off-the-ball incident.

The former Lille winger, who apologised to his team-mates for the incident, said it was a “moment of frustration”.

US Soccer said in a statement on X: “There is absolutely no place in the game for such hateful and discriminatory behaviour.

“These actions are not only unacceptable but also contrary to the values of respect and inclusivity that we uphold as an organisation.”

Despite Panama’s numerical advantage, it was the US that took the lead at the Mercedes-Benz Stadium through a superb strike from Balogun – his fifth goal in 14 appearances for the US.

The lead lasted just four minutes as Cesar Blackman equalised from the edge of the box for Panama, who are 43rd in the Fifa world rankings.

The US, ranked 11th, defended admirably but Panama’s pressure told seven minutes from time as Jose Fajardo netted from close range.

Shortly before full-time, Panama were also reduced to 10 men when Adalberto Carrasquilla was shown a red card for a reckless swipe on winger Christian Pulisic.

The US, who co-host the men’s World Cup in 2026 with Canada and Mexico, are now level on points with Panama heading into their final group match against Uruguay on 2 July at 02:00 BST.

The US, who have a better goal difference, need to match Panama’s result against Bolivia to progress to the last 16.

The Ghanaian’s two yellow cards that amounted to a red in Sunday’s match was annulled by the federation’s appeal court on Friday following protests.

The first yellow card was issued for protesting about the abuse and the second for leaving the field without following procedures.

Cagliari was not penalised as the league ruled that the racist chanting came from “about 10 people, or less than one percent of the sector” of the stadium.

Britain’s Kick It Out anti-discrimination group had called Italy’s football authorities “gutless” over the ban.

“The gutless failure to not take action by the Italian authorities should not be allowed to pass,” Kick It Out said in a statement on Wednesday.

“It’s unbelievable that Cagliari escaped punishment as ‘only 10’ fans were involved. This situation should never be allowed to happen again.”

Former Tottenham Hotspur striker Garth Crooks, an independent trustee at the organisation, urged black players in Italy to go on strike this weekend unless the ban was withdrawn, the campaign group said in a statement.

Italy and other countries have struggled to stamp out racist chants at games. In 2013, the AC Milan team left the pitch during a friendly in the town of Busto Arsizio after home fans insulted midfielder Kevin-Prince Boateng, another Ghanaian.

Under guidelines introduced following that incident, the referee is supposed to alert the fourth official who should in turn contact authorities policing games.