“I don’t want to feed stories that don’t exist,” Mourinho said in the press room when asked about a hypothetical return to the Santiago Bernabeu, although his words throughout his appearance suggest that the Portuguese coach would be delighted to live a second spell at Real Madrid. “Yes, of course you can say no to Florentino,” he said when pressed on this possibility. But his press conference as a whole breathed Madridismo everywhere.“I gave everything I had to Madrid. I did good things and bad things, but I gave everything. My feeling is that I gave everything and that people respect me for that, with successes and mistakes. But I don’t want to feed stories that don’t exist. The reality is that I have one more year with Benfica, with a very easy clause to break for both parties. There is zero with Madrid. I would very much like to eliminate Madrid, and that Arbeloa wins the League and continues a long time with Madrid. He’s a great guy and he deserves it,” said Mourinho when asked about his balance in his three years in white. A response in which he made it clear that he gave everything and in which he again put on the table that ease to disengage from the Lisbon club if necessary.
The reality is that I have one more year with Benfica, with a very easy clause to break for both parties
Mourinho was relaxed even with the Spanish press, with whom he had always had a lot of tension, and spoke about his relationship with Florentino: “The last time we spoke was when I signed with Benfica, when he congratulated me. I hope he comes tomorrow. We have a great friendship, there is no need to hide it…”. He also took the opportunity to recall what the president and Jose Angel told him when he left Madrid. “The president and Jose Angel told me when I left that I was leaving just when the good times were coming, the easy times, that I had already done the difficult times. But I thought it was the right time, because my family comes first. It was a time that was even violent, but what came after is the merit of those who were there, not mine at all”.
I would love to eliminate Madrid, and for Arbeloa to win the league and stay with Madrid for a long time
“I must be one of the few coaches who have left Madrid without being sacked. If you leave by your own decision you leave with a clean soul,” said the Benfica coach when asked if he left with the thorn in his side of the Champions League. Finally, on his return to the Bernabeu, he was also very gentlemanly, although he asked for the impossible: “I hope they forget about me and focus on helping their team to qualify. Nothing more”.
A difficult tie, but not a miracle…
Regarding the tie, he is aware of the difficulty, but does not see it as an impossible mission: “I don’t think it takes a miracle to go through, we need a maximum level, but not a miracle. Madrid is history, but we are two giant clubs. Beating Madrid is something very difficult. Doing it two or three times, eliminating them… It’s not going to be a copy of what happened three weeks ago. We have to play with the joy of being here after starting with zero points in four games. We are going to compete.”
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