Mourinho has framed his Real Madrid return as a decision the club forced on him, not one he chased.
Speaking on the Bet It Drives podcast released on Tuesday, the Portuguese coach explained why he agreed to return.
“Real Madrid is Real Madrid,” he said in the interview, filmed on the streets of the Spanish capital with GR8_TECH executive Yevhen Krazhan.
That framing echoes what Mourinho told UEFA earlier this month in a Champions League interview.
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“Based on what they were going through, the club thought that I was the answer.”
Atletico halt Simeone’s losing run against Mourinho
The timing is uncomfortable. On Sunday, Atletico Madrid beat 10-man Real Madrid 2-1 at the Metropolitano, with defender Dean Huijsen sent off early in the second half for pulling down Giuliano Simeone in the penalty area.
Alejandro Grimaldo converted the resulting spot-kick in the 53rd minute, Jonathan David added a second, and Antonio Rudiger’s 89th-minute header proved a consolation. Diego Simeone had lost his three previous La Liga derbies against Mourinho.
The defeat left Real Madrid fourth in La Liga after seven matchdays, six points behind Barcelona.
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Mourinho was defiant afterwards, brandishing an A4 sheet with photos of what he called two clear red cards that had gone against his players.
“It’s not about how it starts, it’s about how it ends,” he told reporters.
From Arbeloa to Mourinho
Mourinho was named as Alvaro Arbeloa’s successor in the summer and arrived at Valdebebas on Friday 10 July.
“It’s not about working at Real Madrid, it’s about working for Real Madrid,” he told the club’s in-house media that day.
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He inherits a dressing room built around Kylian Mbappe, Vinicius Junior and Jude Bellingham.
Not everyone is convinced the fit will last. Goal.com described his second stint as one that appears “doomed to end just like his first, prematurely, and amid absolute acrimony.”
His next competitive test is in the Champions League, where he had already tried to temper expectations before the campaign began.
“I don’t want to let my arrogance get the better of me and say that we will definitely qualify,” he told UEFA.
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