Jose Mourinho has brushed aside suggestions that he carries any added burden to finally deliver the Champions League for Real Madrid during his second spell in charge of the club, speaking ahead of Tuesday's opening group fixture against Serie A champions Inter Milan at the Santiago Bernabeu.
The European crown remains the one major honor that escaped Mourinho during his first stint at the helm in Madrid. Asked directly whether he felt indebted to the club to complete that unfinished business, the Portuguese coach was clear in separating his two eras at the Bernabeu.
"No, it is two different spells," Mourinho said. "When I left in 2013, we won what we won and lost what we lost, and we gave it our all. And that was that. What I need to do now has nothing to do with the past."
He went on to reflect on how the club's European stature has transformed since his earlier tenure. "Back in 2010, we weren't even reaching the quarter-finals of the Champions League and it had been ages since we'd played in a semi-final. Now we've won six Champions Leagues in a little over a decade," he noted, highlighting the shift in expectations surrounding the competition at the Bernabeu.
The timing of Mourinho's comments comes just days after Real suffered their first defeat of his second spell, going down 1-0 away to Real Betis in La Liga last Friday. That result has intensified scrutiny on how the squad will respond as they begin their continental campaign against an Inter side that reached the summit of Italian football last season.
Despite the setback, Mourinho insisted that ambition remains at the core of the club's approach, while also stressing that consistency is the true foundation for silverware. "We want to win every match, every competition," he said. "But you have to work to accomplish stability. Stability. Stability. Structure. So Real Madrid need to reach that stability that is so important to achieve something great. But Real Madrid are Real Madrid, you need to win here no matter what."
Mourinho's relatively composed press duties were followed by a noticeably tenser media appearance from Kylian Mbappe, who fielded a series of questions about his relationship with teammate Vinicius Jr and the broader atmosphere within the Real Madrid dressing room.
The French striker appeared to push back against the premise of the questioning, seemingly rejecting any notion that friction exists among the squad. "What does an improvement in the dressing room mean?" Mbappe responded when asked whether there had been a shift in mood compared to last season. "Do you have the feeling that something wasn't right last year? No, it's the same as last year. It's true we have a different coach, but it's the same."
Real Madrid, 15-time champions of Europe, are now set on ending a trophy drought that stretches back to their last Champions League triumph in 2024. The club has gone two seasons without major silverware, a stretch that has overlapped with Mbappe's move to the Spanish capital, adding further weight to the pressure surrounding this season's European campaign as it kicks off against Inter Milan.
Based on reporting from The Independent.