Real Madrid coach Jose Mourinho spoke before the team’s game against Valencia on Saturday, and addressed a number of questions, including about Vinícius Júnior and his imminent return from suspension after the international break. He said: “For me, the team comes first. I would never, of my own accord, ever do anything to harm the team for the benefit of a single player. Right now, this issue has only come up in these two Champions League matches. And that’s it, once we’re back to normal and Vinícius Júnior is available,
I’ll handle it as I see fit. I want the team to take it one game at a time, but I, as the coach, don’t think that way. I also have to think about the next game and the series of games we have coming up. Obviously, this game against AEK was one for Vinícius; it was a game to give some players a rest, like Arda Güler, who was dealing with some issues. To give a more objective answer to your question: a coach must do everything, absolutely everything, to get his players to their highest level. Try different strategies, whether it’s about the game itself, player management, or even the interplay between the right and left sides, as I was asked about at the last press conference. And always believe in a player’s true potential. A bad player will always be a bad player, no matter how hard you try. A very good player is one who, even in his low moments, leaves the door open for him to return to his normal form. The game Vinícius played in Athens, if it weren’t Vinícius but just an average player, we’d all say it was a good game, a game on par with his team’s performance. Not incredible, because his team didn’t play incredibly, but good, because his team played well. Since it’s Vinícius, and we always expect the Vinícius who knocked me out of the Champions League last year, this is the Vinícius we’re all hoping for. We need to keep working, keep working with every possible strategy, at every level. There’s one thing that’s very, very important to me, and that’s the camaraderie among his teammates, every single one of them, without exception. And we’re going all out with complete conviction, but when it comes down to it, when it’s time to decide who plays, the team must always come before any individual player.”
Mourinho on the team’s condition
“I think we’re doing well. We arrived here at 3am, but we stayed at Valdebebas. None of the players went home; we’re staying here to try to get a couple more hours of sleep. We had our first recovery day yesterday, and today is the second. The feedback from the players is positive. Obviously, it’ll be tough, but we’re not going to overreact right now, and we’ll be ready tomorrow.”
Mourinho on Cristiano Ronaldo’s international retirement
“No, I don’t want to comment on it. I think that, rather than commenting, we should respect it, and obviously I respect his decision, as is clear. It’s not a retirement; he hasn’t ended his career. Anyone who knows him knows he still has goals for his career. And the only thing I’d like is for his retirement as a footballer, when that day comes, to be different from yesterday. As for whether I see him as a coach, I can’t say. I don’t know what might be going through his mind, but it’s too early to even comment because, as I said, he’s still a footballer.”
Mourinho on Federico Valverde’s captaincy
“I can’t compare him to the Valverde from last season because I didn’t know him then. Since we’ve been together and started working together, I’ve seen a young man who’s a consummate professional, humble, a friend to his teammates, without being one of those voices you hear every day, every moment, every second. He’s a guy who sets a good example for everyone, and obviously, I think the fact that he’s officially the captain of Real Madrid has given him a sense of responsibility, which is exactly how it should be. Being captain of Real Madrid isn’t easy.”
Mourinho on memories of Mestalla
“I’m not one to dwell on the past, and now you’ve reminded me of those good times at Mestalla, but for me, more than Mestalla, I focus on Valencia as a club, Valencia as a great club. Anyway, thank goodness you’ve given me the chance to touch on what’s most important, which is tomorrow’s game. A game I consider one of the toughest in the entire league. A very tough coach, a man with a lot of experience, a wealth of real-world experience, who knows exactly what he wants in terms of his teams’ philosophy. And it’ll be an extremely tough match for us, but we can’t dwell on what we’ve done so far, we can’t dwell on these seven wins and five straight league victories. We have to realize that tomorrow’s match is very, very, very difficult, and that to win, we’ll have to be at our absolute best.”
Mourinho on managing rest periods
“Right now, I’m focused on tomorrow’s match. As you’ve seen, I made some changes to the lineup for the AEK match. It’s easy to understand that, even though Éder Militão and Antonio Rüdiger played an excellent game, Ibrahima Konaté and Dean Huijsen will start tomorrow. We try to distribute playing time among players where possible. But now, thanks to the decision to play on Saturday, the players going with their national teams have Sunday off so they’ll be fresh to join their teams on Monday. And they’re happy because they get a day off with their families. Thank you very much for that decision.”
Mourinho on Atlético Madrid vs. Barcelona
“I’d like both of them to lose. That’s not possible. For me, this is one of those very easy games because someone is going to drop points. For example, last week we won, Barcelona won, and Atlético Madrid won. This is a weekend where we know that one of them, or both, are going to drop points; points are going to be lost. I’ll be completely honest with you: I don’t care.”
Mourinho on tributes to Jesús de Miguel and the possibility of postponing the matchday
“Look, as far as I’ve been told, there are some beautiful tributes organized that will take place across all competitions, and I think that’s meaningful. In any case, if it were possible to speak with Jesús and ask him the question, that would be the ideal situation. Since it’s impossible to ask him, I believe that only his family, his friends, and his teammates can answer what Jesús would want to happen. Whether he’d want there to be no football or whether he’d want to be remembered with a beautiful, widespread tribute across all divisions and in every stadium in Spanish football. I think this is a matter for him and, in this case, for his family, his friends, and his teammates. I don’t think any of us can say one thing or the other. We don’t know. The tribute is for Jesús, so let those who know him deeply, and know what he would want, be the ones to speak.”
Mourinho on the international break
“I’m afraid of tomorrow’s game. ‘Afraid’ in quotation marks. The difficulty of tomorrow’s game is my concern. I don’t see this international break as a problem, as long as the coaches respect the players, the minutes they give them, and protect them from potential injuries. I’m not at all concerned that a player has the honor of going to play for his country, of going to play with his national team. And the problem for me is tomorrow’s match against a fresh team, a team that’s had a full week to prepare, with a coach who, as far as I know, isn’t worried about whether they’ll play wonderfully well or not so well. He’s worried about winning the match, no matter what. And for me, tomorrow’s match is a very, very difficult one. That’s what really worries me.”
Mourinho on comeback wins
“It’s better not to have to come from behind. It’s better like in Santander, 3-0, and it could have been four or five by halftime. Coming from behind has many positive aspects, but it also has some negative ones. The positives, obviously, are belief, team spirit, camaraderie, a willingness to take risks, a deep bench, the team’s motivation, and knowing which jersey you’re wearing. Coming back obviously has many positives, but it also has its downside. It also has its downside, and we have to work on that downside, we have to work on it. We need to find more consistency when it comes to starting games well, like we did in Santander, like we’ve done in practically every home game. There’s a lot, there’s a lot to do.”
