Real Madrid coach José Mourinho faced the press before Wednesday night’s game against AS Roma in the UEFA Champions League and spoke from the Italian capital about his use of Fede Valverde at right-back against Villarreal, saying: “I think in the match against Villarreal, the Real Madrid manager handled it very well. We’ve found what we were looking for. I was thinking about the possibility that later on I might need more changes up front and we had plenty of options to make substitutions. I felt
the need to change the profile of the right-back and didn’t want to use a substitution to bring on Dumfries for Trent, so I thought Fede could make the difference. As a manager, things often go wrong for me, but this time it went right. If you have more than one Fede, you can play him at full-back, as a winger, in midfield… But as we only have one Fede, seeing him at full-back is something quite exceptional.”
Mourinho on not holding a press conference on Saturday
“Nothing, nothing. This is a Champions League match; I’ve got nothing to say about the league match.”
Mourinho on whether he was angry
“I’ve already told your colleague I didn’t want to comment, but I’ll try to make this the last time I say that. I invite you to watch just the first minute of the match against Villarreal. If you like, we can discuss it on Saturday. The first minute is enough for those in the know.”
Mourinho on whether he trusts the referees more in the Champions League
“I trust them all. The only thing that makes me suspicious is when, as a rule, you know the referee’s name, even if it’s supposed to be 24 hours beforehand, it’s usually about three weeks in advance. That’s the only thing that bothers me. Apart from that, I’m confident and I hope everything goes well for all three teams. I don’t have any negative feelings.”
Mourinho on whether Real Madrid are more cautious in the league because of referees
“I think that when you ask me this question, you already know the answer, but for some reason you don’t want to say it yourself. I find people in the Spanish media a bit indirect – I’d say there are few direct, specific opinions on situations where there’s no room for doubt. There’ve been four or five questions along these lines. The Italian press is surely more interested in the match. We’ll be seeing the Spanish press on Saturday, so it’s better to turn to the other side, the Italian media.”
Mourinho on how he connects with fans
“By being myself. As always. The interests of the club, the players and the fans always come before my own interests, and people appreciate that. People identify with that. If you do something small to make them happy, well, all the better. It’s not as if we won the Champions League, but we did win a European competition, we reached another European final and it’s all come together… Roma fans are special people.”
Mourinho on facing Gasperini
“It’ll be just another match. If I manage to forget who I’m playing against, and I’m doing that now and will continue to do so during the match, it’s just another match. As I said before, we haven’t felt the real pressure of the Champions League yet. Given what’s left to play for, I think Real Madrid and Roma will qualify. Perhaps I’ll be back for the quarter-finals or semi-finals… Before the match, it’s not normal to arrive at the airport or walk down the corridor… But the 90 minutes themselves will be normal.”
