Real Madrid vs. Inter: José Mourinho Stirs Things Up Right Away
José Mourinho is once again stirring up trouble on the eve of the Champions League match against Inter. At a press conference, the Real Madrid coach took a dig at his former team, primarily regarding the schedule: “We’ll have a lot of players out; it’ll be tough for us. In my opinion, whoever drew up the schedule might be Italian: who am I supposed to put in midfield?”
“I don’t know if the algorithm speaks Italian or not, but it chose this match right away. But here we are, and we have several possibilities—four or five options—though in the end, I won’t say anything.” For the match against the Italian champions, the Blancos will be without Bernardo Silva, Arda Güler, and Camavinga, all serving suspensions carried over from last season.
The Special One then expressed surprise that the Nerazzurri haven’t won the Champions League in recent years: “They’re a tremendous team—I’d say a team with the same style of play from Inzaghi to Chivu, who can play with their eyes closed. It’s a surprise they haven’t won the Champions League in recent years.”
Regarding Cristian Chivu as a coach, Mourinho had this to say: “It’s hard to predict that he’d become a coach; when they’re players, their focus is on playing.” On rumors of an alleged strained relationship with the Romanian coach: “Who did you talk to find out if I have a bad relationship with him? Who did you talk to on the phone yesterday? Do you want me to tell you if we’ve spoken? There’s nothing to clarify between us. We were in touch a lot when I was at Roma and he was coaching the Primavera. I’ve rarely come across former players with such passion for such a difficult profession. I’ve always known that he was determined to become a top coach.”
Last weekend’s loss to Sevilla in the Spanish league didn’t worry the Portuguese coach: “We’re convinced we played a good game. The scoring chances we missed were an anomaly. We have some known issues, but nothing more than that. We’ll give it our all against Inter.”
