Back at the Bernabéu: Could Mourinho coach Real Madrid again?

Maybe I’m in the minority, but I still believe in it real Madrid President Florentino Pérez has not rejected the concept of Jose Mourinho’s management LaLiga Giants next season. It’s a proposal that will become even stronger with the arrival of Mourinho benfica turn them over 1-0 Defeat in the first leg at the Santiago Bernabeu on Wednesday and Alvaro Arbeloa’s unexpected side were eliminated uefa champions league.

Although Mourinho is banned from coaching Benfica from the touchline when he returns to the stadium where he coached for three seasons, it is the first opportunity for the “Special One” to prepare for an important, competitive match at the Bernabeu since he lost. copa del rey to finalize Atletico Madrid there as los blancos Coach in May 2013.

Before thinking about how Benfica can cope with their disappointing performance in the Champions League this season (played four, won one, lost three, -4 goal difference) and how they will have to do without it gianluca prestieni — Temporarily suspended by UEFA After allegations that he used racist language Vinicius Junior In last week’s first round – it is important to examine how the Madrid president and his one-time golden boy feel about each other.

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First, let’s start with Perez, the 78-year-old billionaire because there are logical parallels between the moment he recruited Mourinho and the way he played. inter Milan In 2010 and now.

Pérez certainly loves seeing his club win trophies, and he has never lost his ability to make commercial fortunes. But the other side of the coin is that he, naturally, gets upset when what he considers “love-in” happens in the world. barcelona.

He shares this sentiment with Sir Alex Ferguson. When Scott joined Manchester United From aberdeen In the 1980s, he described his mission not in terms of trying to build an Old Trafford empire, but rather as an attempt to “knock down”. liverpool Off their f—ing perch.

Pérez has always been so smart that he knows, in purely actuarial terms, that if he can somehow distract and weaken Barcelona, ​​the path to winning LaLiga becomes increasingly easier. Atléti have been title winners intermittently, and no one else – outside the hegemony of Madrid and Barça – since Valencia 21 years ago — actually in dispute.

Sometimes, the first step toward victory is not improving your performance, but inflicting damage on your main opponent. The last time Mourinho was Perez’s “scorched earth” manager when it came to an anti-Barcelona mission, and now he could fit into that role again.

The Portuguese was a man-of-war whose arrival did not lead to a flurry of trophies (although he did win the Copa del Rey, La Liga and Spanish Supercopa over three seasons), but it completely defeated Pep Guardiola, forced most of the Spanish sports media to choose sides, gave Madrid a more combative edge, and set the table for a flood of European trophies under the more talented, less aggressive Carlo Ancelotti and Zinedine Zidane for at least the next few years.

The first witness in my case is Aitor Karanka, the Champions League-winning centre-half with Madrid in 2000 and 2002. These days, he serves as the Spanish FA’s director of football, but he was Mourinho’s assistant in Madrid all those years ago. It’s only been a month since he’s been on the Spanish football podcast.”cafellito“, where he was asked whether Mourinho wished to take charge of Real Madrid again.

Karanka tried to keep a straight face, but laughed in surprise before replying: “What do you want me to say?” He then continued without prompting: “I think he already had one or two chances to return to Madrid, but as it happens in football, things were not working out at the time. At the moment, Madrid has a good young Spanish coach whom we [the Spanish FA] Hopefully he will stay in this post for a long time.”

Immediately, when asked the follow-up question: “Were Madrid and Mourinho close to something?” Karanka replied: “As far as I understand, yes… but I can’t remember exactly when.”

The final question on the topic was: “Why didn’t it work?”, to which Mourinho’s friend and former assistant replied: “There are moments like this in football… Maybe it was mid-season, maybe Jose was busy with some other project… But the relationship between Jose and the president should not surprise anyone…”

Now to Mourinho. I wouldn’t be surprised if NASA astronauts were advised during their training that among the objects you can see from space, such as the Great Barrier Reef, the Grand Canyon and the Great Wall of China, there was also mention of Mourinho’s ego.

This shouldn’t automatically sound offensive: the 63-year-old exudes a self-assurance, swagger, boastfulness and a “follow me” manner that sometimes goes over well with talented, trained footballers, inattentive fans and a greedy global media. Every leading sportsman and woman needs a very healthy ego.

I’d bet every last penny I have that he can hear “opportunity” yelling at him from the Santiago Bernabeu. Not just this week, but regarding the capture of Arbeloa.

Yes, Benfica is a brand name in European football. Yes, there is a possibility that portugal International job may come in their lap after world cup. This is all well and good. But he left Madrid unfulfilled: only two major trophies, no Champions League crown, taken away by the psychological battle he deliberately started with Guardiola (among others) and ultimately forced to watch with their noses pressed against the window as Ancelotti and Zidane led the same team to four Champions League trophies over the next five years.

What competitive, aggressive, compulsive and fame-hungry person wouldn’t want another chance to get it right?

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Now, is there any question about whether Mourinho’s actions during the last two Benfica-Madrid ties this year have had a negative impact on his shine in the eyes of President Perez? I don’t think so.

in january 4-2 Victory in the league stage took Benfica into the playoffs, with Mourinho leaving his apprentice and retainer Arbeloa well behind. Score one for Jose. However, In view of his comments Vinicius Junior’s Reporting to the referee that he was racially abused Reaching the Round of 16 during the first leg of this playoff only added fuel to the fire surrounding that incident, even though it tried to back off.

I bet Perez recognizes deep inside the same fighting spirit that attracted him to Mourinho in the first place. There is a downside to that trait – by Mourinho’s admission, he is suspended for this week’s rematch, having directly accused the first leg’s referee, François Letexier, of avoiding booking Madrid players who received a yellow card and a suspension for the second leg. Just as he was suspended for his behavior during the home defeat to Barcelona in the first leg of the Champions League semi-final in 2011, and just as he was sent off during his last important Madrid match – he 2-1 The Bernabeu lost to Diego Simeone’s Atlético in the Copa del Rey final.

Notably, Mourinho refused to attend his last few news conferences in the days before his Madrid departure in 2013. This then meant that Arbeloa was left in the media mixed area not only to stand in for his outgoing boss, but also to attempt a farewell eulogy.

Arbeloa said at the time, “Mourinho has always put Real Madrid above everything; he has thought of Real Madrid before himself and at times this has damaged his image.” “I don’t know if anyone at this club, including the players, can say that.

“What I’m saying is it starts with me. I look out for myself first. I want things to go well for me, and then for the club. I think there are many people like that. Many of us are probably worried about bad media coverage, about maintaining a good image, about always speaking out in our own interests. Because this club is very complex, especially when things are not going well, things become very difficult here.

“It’s been a tumultuous season, especially towards the end, and there are people who don’t agree with some of the manager’s decisions.”

The irony is that almost 14 years later, most of those words apply to the current situation. Arbeloa’s impact has been mostly positive, sometimes with crystal clarity – including the extraordinary excellence of the general performance in Lisbon. But Madrid remains vulnerable, hampered by key absences and unsure whether klian mbappe He can forget his knee pain and recent decline in form and take him to the round of 16.

A 2-1 defeat on Osasuna The nagging voices in Perez’s mind over the weekend will have lingered over whether Arbeloa is ready to be the sole leader. Defeat to Benfica would not only increase that volume, but it would also re-establish Mourinho as a candidate.

This week, without Ban and Prestiani, Mourinho starts as a slight underdog. How will the Santiago Bernabeu treat him in his absence? Craving applause and chanting? Arrogant, “never retreating” nose in the air and silent demeanor?

So, he may be vulnerable in terms of play this week, but that doesn’t mean that, by the summer, Mourinho can’t once again be the leading man at the world’s most successful, most high-profile club. This match is not just a rite of passage into the knockout stages of the Champions League; This is a referendum on how madridistas Consider this an ordeal for Arbeloa, your lifetime hero and current member of the hot-seat.