Sometimes football is silly, sometimes it doesn’t make much sense, and sometimes it’s fun for it. On a night when there were 37 shots and the goalkeepers shared 13 occasionally absurd saves between them, José Mourinho’s current side beat his former team Inter on his Champions League return to Real Madrid. Just don’t ask exactly … Read more
Real Madrid’s perfect start in La Liga ended on Friday when Real Betis beat them 1-0, with the substitute Troy Parrott scoring nine minutes from time and goalkeeper Álvaro Valles saving a stoppage-time penalty from Kylian Mbappé. The clash began at a high tempo but the pace dropped after the interval in the heat in … Read more
Liverpool are in the market for another forward or two before the transfer window closes, as Andoni Iraola rebuilds a misfiring team. The Reds were criticised after a disjointed opening-day draw on Tyneside in which Dominik Szoboszlai snatched a point for Liverpool against Newcastle United, with questions asked over the defensive midfield, full-backs and Florian … Read more
José Mourinho says he is calmer now so when the rest of the bench emptied, sprinting down the touchline to celebrate the 90th-minute goal that finally delivered victory on his first game in charge of Real Madrid in 4,380 days, he didn’t set off with them. Instead, he clenched his fists, got to his feet … Read more
The winger admits his first season in Spain was as much a personal challenge as a footballing one. Moving away from family and friends, adapting to a new culture and learning a new language forced him to become more self-reliant. “It’s definitely matured me so much, off the pitch and on it too,” he said. … Read more
José Mourinho is confident Real Madrid will be fine without Rodri despite admitting the club made “a very good offer” to try to sign the Spain captain. Rodri officially signed with Madrid rival Barcelona after a transfer from Manchester City on Tuesday. Mourinho, back with Madrid for a second stint, said he spoke twice with … Read more
Real Madrid begin their La Liga campaign on Saturday – for the first time since 2013, they’ll be under the management of Jose Mourinho. The Portuguese boss previously spent three years at the Bernabeu, winning the league in 2012, during a time when Barcelona had both Pep Guardiola and Lionel Messi. After a spell at … Read more
Even in the hyperreal world of football, there are few characters more compelling, more polarising, or more everything than José Mourinho, the best and worst of public him on full display in a new three-part Netflix series. “It reminded me how good he was,” says Joe Pearlman, who directed Mourinho, and the actual Mourinho is, … Read more
José Mourinho has revealed he signed a contract to succeed Sir Alex Ferguson as Manchester United manager in 2013 only to tearfully renege on the deal and return to Chelsea. The football world was rocked when the Scottish great announced he was retiring having overseen a 13th Premier League title triumph during a spell of … Read more
After years of speculation, Jose Mourinho has confirmed that he agreed to replace Sir Alex Ferguson at Manchester United in 2013, before changing his mind and re-joining Chelsea instead. “When I left Real Madrid, I signed to go to Manchester United after Sir Alex,” the 63-year-old coach – now back at Real for a second … Read more