Jose Mourinho has publicly dropped the Champions League trophy from Real Madrid’s list of goals for the season.

Asked at his pre-match press conference on Tuesday whether the club’s European identity made the title a non-negotiable, the manager chose candour over the familiar Bernabeu script.

“It’s too early. Madrid, at this moment, doesn’t have the goal of winning the Champions League. Right now, the goal is to qualify.”

Real Madrid sit ninth in the 36-team league phase on six points from two matches, going into Wednesday’s Matchday 3 fixture against Leipzig at the Santiago Bernabeu.

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11 or 12 points, then look further

Mourinho put a number on his first European priority. According to Football Espana’s account of the press conference, 11 or 12 points would be enough to reach the Champions League knockouts, with any top-eight ambition only on the table after that.

“They put you in a knockout situation and are games that can be avoided. But looking at the competition, I have the feeling that many points will be necessary to avoid the playoff.”

Under the format introduced last season, the top eight teams in the league phase go straight to the last 16, places 9 to 24 enter a two-legged playoff round, and teams below 24th are out.

Hired to win Europe, not just to qualify

The admission lands with weight because of who said it. Real Madrid announced on 11 June 2026 that Mourinho had signed a three-year deal, in his second spell at the club after a first stint between 2010 and 2013.

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The Portuguese arrived with his own European CV, headlined by Champions League titles with Porto in 2004 and Internazionale in 2010. The club he returned to holds the record with 15 European Cups and, in the words of president Florentino Perez at the appointment, is chasing a 16th.

Leipzig at the Bernabeu, Clasico in Barcelona on Sunday

Mourinho refused to let his dressing room reduce RB Leipzig to their 6-0 defeat in Munich.

“Leipzig is not the team that lost so badly in Munich. It’s the team that beat PSV, that has three points, and that wants to qualify.”

Real Madrid will be short on bodies. Yahoo Sports reported that defender Raul Asencio is out after surgery on a stress fracture of his right tibia on 1 October, Rodrygo is still training individually in the final stages of injury recovery, and Ferland Mendy is not registered for the Champions League league phase.

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Kick-off at the Santiago Bernabeu is at 9pm local time, with El Clasico at Camp Nou following on Sunday.

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