José Mourinho Becomes a Lifesaver: “He Looked Dead to Me”
Real Madrid suffered its first loss of the season against Betis. The match was decided by a late goal from Parrott, which secured the victory for Pellegrini’s team. The Chilean coach thus became the first manager to beat Mourinho in his second stint at the helm of the Blancos. After the 1-0 loss at Cartuja, the Portuguese coach also addressed the yellow card he received: “I don’t know why I was cautioned, but I accept the decision. I stood up because a Betis player in front of our bench looked like he was dead,” he said.
“Based on what I felt from the bench, I’m having a hard time explaining this loss, because as a team we played very well. I can’t fault my players for their attitude. We deserved to win, but deserving it doesn’t earn you points,” he added philosophically.
“The Betis players are craftier than those from Madrid, who are more naive. Right from the first play, there was a clear yellow card for a player who had hit Valverde; then it happened again, but we bounced back immediately. They’re more experienced at handling these situations, and with the support of a fantastic crowd, they manage to take advantage of them,” he pointed out.
The loss comes after a start to the season that had given Madrid fans reason for optimism: the Blancos had, in fact, earned seven points in the first three matchdays, beating Espanyol 2-1 in their away opener and then crushing Real Sociedad 4-1 at home, followed by a 4-0 victory over Málaga. In that last match, Bellingham, Mbappé, and Arda Güler found the net, along with an own goal by Herrero, confirming the immense offensive quality of a squad built to reignite Florentino Pérez’s ambitions after one of the most disappointing seasons in recent years.
Betis, for its part, came into this match with an up-and-down record: after opening-day victories against Real Sociedad and on the road against Valencia, the Andalusians were crushed 5-2 by Levante on Matchday 3. Pellegrini, however, managed to restore the right sense of cohesion at the decisive moment, also capitalizing on the support of the crowd at La Cartuja, the stadium Betis is using as its home this season.
It’s worth noting that this is Mourinho’s second stint on the Real Madrid bench, following his first tenure from 2010 to 2013. “The Special One” had been brought in by Florentino Pérez to turn around a club that had endured difficult years, marked by Álvaro Arbeloa’s brief stint and Xabi Alonso’s failure. In the summer friendlies, the Portuguese coach had racked up four consecutive wins—against Leganés, Ferencváros, Deportivo La Coruña, and Schalke 04—with the only blemish being a draw against Fiorentina, before getting off to a strong start in the league.
