Mourinho's comments on Real Madrid ahead of Inter match: I owe nothing to the past

Real Madrid manager Jose Mourinho spoke at a press conference ahead of the match against Inter Milan in the first week of the UEFA Champions League league phase. The Portuguese manager emphasized that his priority in the clash at the Santiago Bernabeu is clearly victory.

Referring to the defeat against Betis, Mourinho said that a good performance alone is not enough. The experienced coach stated, "I want to win. I can say I want to play well, but we played well against Betis and lost. I want to win."

Stating that he is pleased with his team's reaction to their first defeat of the season, Mourinho explained that he saw his players upset in the dressing room after the match, but saw signs of recovery during Sunday's training. The Portuguese manager expressed that the team has returned to normal ahead of the Inter match.

Mourinho said that after analyzing the Betis match, his opinions on the game played became more positive. Noting that they made uncharacteristic mistakes against a strong opponent, the experienced coach said, "We are in good shape. We have some problems in midfield ahead of tomorrow's match, but we will play and we will fight."

Reminding that the Santiago Bernabeu has a special place in his career, Mourinho said that he both won the Champions League trophy with Inter at this stadium and was eliminated on penalties in the semi-finals against Bayern Munich during his time at Real Madrid. Mourinho assessed, "I experienced the best and worst moments in this stadium."

When asked if he owed anything to Real Madrid in terms of a Champions League title, Mourinho disagreed with this interpretation. He said, "No. These are two different periods; I finished my job in 2013, we won what we won, we lost what we lost. We gave everything we had and that period ended."

Mourinho stated that his first tenure at Real Madrid cannot be compared to today's picture, noting that the club struggled to even reach the quarter-final stage in 2010, and that a different era began afterwards. The Portuguese coach said that the desire to win the Champions League with Real Madrid continues independently of the past.

When asked whether he would assign Trent Alexander-Arnold a role in midfield for the Inter match, Mourinho chose not to comment on the matter.

News Source: 12punto