Jose Mourinho talks El Sardinero, Trent, Tchouameni, Dumfries after Racing Club 0-3 Real Madrid

Jose Mourinho talks El Sardinero, Trent, Tchouameni, Dumfries after Racing Club 0-3 Real Madrid Real Madrid kept up their good form after the win against FC Barcelona in the first El Clasico of the season as they visited Santander for their La Liga game against the newly promoted Racing Club side and came back with a 3-0 win. Despite the home team’s recent good form at their stadium, the Merengues had obtained a three-goal lead before the half-time break , with Kylian Mbappe, Jude Bellingham, and Yan Diomande scoring the goals. As Diario AS has reported, Jose Mourinho talked to the press after the match, and despite the scoreline, assured that this was not an easy game to win for Real Madrid: “No… El Sardinero has a lot of energy, and the team is very combative. Even when they were losing 0-3, they were still dangerous. It is a match you could win 0-4 or 0-5 based on the chances we created in the second half, but it could also have become complicated. In the first ten minutes, they had a couple of opportunities through Zabiri, with crosses to the near post… If they score one, they get a lift. I never considered the match settled. But we did start strongly, playing well and with good judgement, against the high press that Racing put on us, as they do against every team that comes here. In the end, it is an important victory in an extremely demanding week ahead.” When asked about the defensive efforts even from the star players, the Real Madrid manager praised the team’s commitment: “It is something that exists throughout the team at the moment. Of course, some players have greater physical and tactical attributes for defensive work, but I have also seen others showing tremendous commitment. The team is growing and playing well. In my opinion, we should be scoring more goals given the chances we create. But we are improving. In a low block, the team knows how to stay compact. I am happy with that progress. And you are right: when more attacking players make defensive sacrifices, it sends a positive message to the team.” The Real Madrid coach was quite satisfied with the improvement he has seen from his team: “We are not at 100% yet, but we are improving. Less than four months is not much time, but we are making progress. I have come to understand things that I did not understand on the first day; the players understand my character as a coach better, because my character as a person is secondary. They understand the things that are non-negotiable for me. There is good human empathy, so to speak. A good relationship between the players and the coach. We are in a good place. But… let’s see how this week goes, because two difficult matches are coming up. And both are important.” When asked about the handball incident involving Aurelien Tchouameni, Mourinho was clear that it was not a penalty: “My opinion is that… (*laughs*) They protest everything. This is a stadium I like very much, and a fan base I like very much. They have this character, this way of approaching a match. They don’t just come to the cinema. They don’t just come to watch a spectacle. They come to play their part, to get involved and create a very difficult atmosphere for the opposition. But there is also the fact that people obviously watch the game with their hearts, and many don’t know the rules. To be honest, the rules change so often, especially the small details… People don’t know that the Tchouameni incident is never a penalty because the ball rebounds off his body. It is never a penalty. When the referee awarded it, I remained calm because I was 60 metres away and couldn’t see it. But then I watched it on the iPad and said: ‘If VAR is awake, that is not a penalty.’ The referee was very good technically and, disciplinarily… a couple of yellow cards, and that was it, in a tough, competitive match. For me, it is obvious that it was not a penalty.” The Portuguese coach justified some of his selection choices for this game: “As I said, the team is improving, and the players are also enjoying a high level of confidence. Football is played by men and women. They are men and women who play football, not ‘players’ in some abstract sense; the emotional aspect matters enormously too. When things go well, it seems that everything goes well for everyone. You make a substitution and bring on Trent, who hadn’t played for a few matches. I did so knowing that, against an opponent who presses intensely, his technical quality in building from the back would be preferable to bringing on Dumfries. And he put in an excellent, very balanced performance. When things are going well, everything seems better than it actually is. But the truth is that I am happy.” The Real Madrid tactician was also asked about why he asked his players to celebrate their goal in their own half, instead of in the opposition’s half, to which he replied: “Ah! If they come over to our half, imagine some clever player taking a quick restart. These are small things. Sometimes emotion makes you lose sight of reality. I am just trying to give my players a little guidance.” Mourinho also opened up on why he did not use all of the five allowed substitutions in this match: “I have… I have… I have seen everything in football by now. A match is only settled when the referee blows the final whistle. Besides, some players who played today will not play on Wednesday. In that sense, taking off players who won’t feature on Wednesday would not make much sense. I’ll give you an example: Tchouameni won’t play on Wednesday. So let him play the full 90 minutes today. It is a different way of managing the squad. In your view, it is ‘the match is under control, make substitutions’. I thought about it the other way around: leave on players who will be on the bench on Wednesday. The gift La Liga has given us, by making us play today and again on Saturday, forces us into this situation on Wednesday… This is against the interests of Spanish football, which should want its teams to win in Europe, win, win, win. Points, points, points. But let’s see whether, with three or four changes, we can get the points in Athens.” There is no doubt that playing so many games in such a short period of time is not an ideal situation for any team, even a team with a squad as deep as Real Madrid. Thus, Jose Mourinho will have to utilize his players very carefully, and hopefully, he will be able to keep up the team’s form even in these adverse circumstances.