Aitor Karanka, who is in charge of Middlesbrough, reckons that Jose Mourinho is better than any other manager in the professional circuit at this point of time.

Karanka also credits Mourinho for his own development as manager. He believes working with the Portuguese for a long period of time helped him a lot.

According to Karanka, Mourinho’s tenure in Spain with Real Madrid was just fabulous. He ended the dominance of Barca in the top division there by building a very organized squad at Santiago Bernabeu.

Karanka was Mourinho’s assistant at Real Madrid.

In an interview to a Radio channel, the 41-year old was quoted as saying, “Jose is such a pro active manager. I am yet to meet somebody who is a better tactician than him. The way he stopped Barca, it was incredible. They had been winning the title for 6 years and the kind of team they had, they would have extended that run easily, but, Jose did not let it happen. He built a side that not only challenged Barca, but, also became the champion.”

“People loved Jose there at Real Madrid. Everyone had a good relationship with him. You would have heard Iker Casillas saying the other day how much care Jose had for the players.”

When asked about Madrid’s current manager Carlo Ancelotti who has also made a dream start to his tenure at the club by winning the European Cup in his very first season, Karanka said, “Carlo is a fine coach as well and he is also well respected among the players. As far as the Champions League title is concerned, Madrid was always a strong contender for it. They have got great combinations in every department. They’re a class above the other sides.”