Jose Mourinho spoke to the media ahead of Real Madrid’s first Champions League clash against Inter on Tuesday night. He was asked about what kind of match he wants to watch on Tuesday, to which he said: “I want to win. I could say I want to play well, but I don’t want to play well like against Betis and lose. I want to win. We’re in an eight-game stretch with the goal of qualifying. And I think we’re going to do it. But I want to approach this game as a single match, isolated from this context, without
thinking about the seven more to come. I want to win.”
Mourinho on facing Inter
“Right now, this isn’t a normal match for me. Afterwards, it will be. But during, no, I don’t think anyone will be talking about who’s on the Real Madrid bench during the match. During the game, I won’t be thinking about the past. Chivu will always be one of my own. I’m very happy for him, for what he’s achieving. I’ll greet him before and after the match.”
Mourinho on the team after the defeat
“I saw them the way I like to see them. Exhausted in the locker room after the game, but pretty much recovered in Sunday’s training session, and today, perfectly normal. After analyzing our performance, we’re increasingly convinced that we played well. That we played as a team and that our mistakes were an anomaly. That we’re in good shape. We have some issues in midfield for tomorrow’s game, but we’re going to play and compete.”
Mourinho on wanting to win the UCL due to not winning during his first stint
“No. I’ve been at Real Madrid in two different periods. I finished my time there in 2013. We won what we won and lost what we lost. We gave it our all. And that was it. But this has nothing to do with the past. These are two different moments in Real Madrid’s history. That’s just how it is. In 2010, we hadn’t reached the quarterfinals and hadn’t played a semifinal in many, many years. Now we’ve won six Champions Leagues… they’re different times. If you ask me if I’m excited about winning the Champions League with Real Madrid, obviously I am. But it’s completely separate from the context of my previous stint.”
Mourinho on Champions League at the Bernabeu
“Obviously, I’ve won a Champions League title at the Bernabéu, but I’ve also lost a semi-final on penalties. I’ve had my best and worst moments in that stadium. But I’m not thinking about that. Not the positives, not the negatives. I’m just focused on the fact that I’m the Real Madrid coach, and tomorrow’s match isn’t some incredibly important game, because it doesn’t decide anything; it’s not a knockout round or a group stage like the old days. But it’s a match that’s being played tomorrow, and every point is important. Inter are also coming here looking for something.”
Mourinho on whether Trent Alexander-Arnold can play in midfield
“I’m not going to tell you, person. I could spend minutes here talking about this, but I prefer to be honest with you. All three players aren’t available, I know… the algorithm has chosen this match to be played under these circumstances, and although your question is obvious, that’s where we are. We have three, four, five options. We could be here discussing all of them, but in the end, I’m not going to say anything.”
Mourinho on Endrick’s return
“Tomorrow he might be ready to play 5 minutes. Or 10 minutes, maximum. That’s it. He trained with the team for the first time yesterday. He hasn’t played since… Budapest or Austria, a friendly. He’s not fit enough for more than 5-10 minutes. But since we have so many open spots on the bench, there he is. And maybe he should play 5 minutes. He’s an attacking player, he’ll play in attack. Don’t worry, he won’t be a full-back or a center-back. He’ll be an attacker.”
Mourinho on his “naive” remark
“Perhaps I was misinterpreted for using the term “naïve,” but I’m not saying it as a criticism, but rather an observation. And tomorrow you’ll understand perfectly what I said. You’ll understand very easily.”
Mourinho on the differences between the two Real Madrid sides
“I’ve found a club… which is Real Madrid. And that says it all. Real Madrid is Real Madrid. They had a very difficult season in the past, and when that happens, you have to work to improve. We always want to win, here, tomorrow, in every competition. But you have to work on stability and problem-solving. Real Madrid needs to move towards a stable level.”
Mourinho on the refereeing decisions against Betis
“I don’t want to talk about the referee’s decisions. Forgive me, because I’m going to dodge your question. I’m going to answer it another way. But since this question hasn’t reached me, I’ll say it: we lost to Betis. We lost because we didn’t convert our attacking opportunities into goals. Period. But the penalty… Why wasn’t it retaken? Well, because VAR doesn’t know the rules… or because they didn’t want to. This is a question I’d like the people in charge to answer. Why? If VAR didn’t order it retaken because they didn’t know the rules, they should just go home and quit. If they didn’t order it retaken because they didn’t want to, that’s even worse. And then there’s another, even worse question: if they didn’t know the rules, why didn’t they call the referee over to review it on the monitor? A bit strange. I want to be honest and think that he didn’t know he was inside the box. I prefer to go down that road. But if that’s the case, the referee can’t do it; VAR has to. Because in a few weeks or months, if something similar happens, it will be retaken. And I want to make it clear that we didn’t lose because of this, because we could have even missed the replay. But as the Real Madrid coach and as a footballer, I’d like to know why the message wasn’t repeated. I’d like people to answer me responsibly. The other thing in this match, which is unrelated, is why the Real Madrid captain received a yellow card. When Vinicius approached the referee and saw the card before he even reached him, I’d like to know why. Why are we always told that the captain has the right to approach the referee politely to ask for an explanation? I apologize for using your question, but I wanted to comment on this decision.”
Mourinho on his relationship with Inter manager Cristian Chivu
“He was my player, we worked together. We went through so much together, the good and the bad. Who have you spoken to to find out if I have a bad relationship with him? Who?”
