Jose Mourinho

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Real Madrid Coach Jose Mourinho Shrugs Off Second Leg Loss To Levante

After an 8-0 win in the first leg, Mourinho says the 2-0 loss in the second leg means nothing in the grand scheme of things...

Real Madrid coach Jose Mourinho revealed his side could afford to lose the second leg of their Round of 16 match against Levante, after having an eight-goal lead from the first leg.

The Blancos lost 2-0 this evening, but the 'Special One' shrugged off the setback.

"I cannot be critical of my team. It was always going to be a tough match, but we did not pay the necessary attention to it," the coach told Marca after the match.

"It is always difficult to motivate oneself, but I think you cannot criticise because the players had a positive attitude.

"It looked like it would be a scoreless draw, but the victory is a prize for Levante. They fought hard and earned their win. Now, we are set to take on Atletico Madrid, so we have a difficult task ahead."

Mourinho also spoke about Kaka's performance off the bench.

"Kaka has been getting more time on the pitch and this gives us confidence," he added. "The positive thing is that he has no problems with his knee after each match.

"He will surely play in the next match [against Villarreal]. The Bernabeu crowd will see once again why he is one of the best players.

"Today may have been a match we could afford to lose, but our next one we cannot," he affirmed

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Mourinho praises impressive Villarreal

Real Madrid coach Jose Mourinho paid tribute to his side's fighting spirit after their brilliant 4-2 victory over Villarreal.

Mourinho also heaped praise on their opponents, who he described as the best team to visit the Bernabeu this season.

Madrid's 16-match winning streak in front of their own fans and Mourinho's remarkable record of having gone almost nine years without suffering a home defeat both looked in danger as impressive Villarreal caused numerous problems in the first half.

However, despite twice taking the lead through Cani (seven minutes) and Marco Ruben (19), the Yellow Submarine had to settle for a 2-2 scoreline going into the interval as Madrid equalised both times through Cristiano Ronaldo (nine and 45).

The second half saw Madrid put on a much better showing and they got the lead they had been threatening when Ronaldo completed his hat-trick in the 80th minute, before the Portugal international set up Kaka two minutes later to end the scoring.

Mourinho said: "We deserved to win for the courage we had in the second half. The team was marvellous.

"At the start Villarreal were fantastic and Madrid were bad. I didn't like it that our opponents played such an exceptional game in the first half. Villarreal are the best team to have come here and those who have come the closest to winning.

"A fairer scoreline at half-time would have been 3-1 to Villarreal. We made it 2-2 when we didn't deserve it, because they had control of the game. Because of them, we didn't do very much.

"During the break I spoke with the players. I told them that it was a false scoreline and that I wanted to change the system, and especially the way we pressurised them. And the game changed completely. I took a risk and switched Kaka for (Raul) Albiol, and we won.

"You cannot sit back and wait in a championship where the leaders have only dropped five points and the second-placed team seven. We need to give it everything."

Madrid moved back to within two points of Primera Division leaders Barcelona with the victory, whilst putting an 11-point gap between themselves and third-placed Villarreal.

Mourinho also gave his side of events regarding the incident at the end of the game when he celebrated Kaka's goal in front of the Villarreal bench, incurring the anger the visitors, one of whom threw a water bottle in the direction of the Portuguese.

It missed, but the referee raced over to brandish a red card to one of the Villarreal contingent on the sidelines.

Mourinho said: "I swear that I went to celebrate the goal with my son who was behind their bench and they thought I was provoking them."

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Real Madrid 4-2 Villarreal

Cristiano Ronaldo stole the show against Villarreal on Sunday night with a spectacular hat-trick (22 goals in 18 matches) to steer Real Madrid to victory. The Whites found themselves down on two occasions but managed to come back twice to take three crucial points. Kaka was credited with the fourth goal in what was his Bernabeu debut coming off a long-term injury.

Villarreal played a flawless first half with magical touching and gentle treatment of the ball, but they failed to remember who they were up against. Cani put the visitors up on 6’, but Cristiano finished a combination by Ozil and Benzema to pull Real level three minutes later. The Yellow Submarine again took the lead on 17’ with a goal by Marco Ruben and stunned the Whites. CR7 again found the answer on the last play of the half by heading in a fee-kick cross by Xabi Alonso.

Khedira replaced Lass in the second half as Albiol moved into the right-back slot and Ramos took over in the center of the back line. Villarreal struggled without the ball at their feet and Benzema and Cristiano nearly put Real ahead on two occasions but were stymied by Diego Lopez. With 20 minutes on the clock, Kaka stepped in for Albiol in search of more answers in attack. Only nine minutes were needed before the Brazilian swung in a pass that Diego Lopez failed to trap. Following several deflections, Cristiano netted what would prove to be the winner with a left-footed strike. Villarreal claimed the Portuguese international was offside to no avail and the goal was considered valid.

There was still more action to be had and on 82’ Cristiano Ronaldo provided a perfect assist for Kaka, who notched his first goal of the season and Real Madrid’s fourth of the night. Football returns to the Bernabeu on Thursday for the first leg of the next Copa del Rey tie against Atletico Madrid.

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Real Madrid 4-2 Villarreal

Cristiano Ronaldo scored a hat-trick and set up another for Kaka as Real Madrid beat Villarreal 4-2.

Madrid twice fought back from deficits to defeat Villarreal in an entertaining encounter at the Bernabeu.

Villarreal led through goals from Cani and Marco Ruben during a hugely impressive first-half display, but they were pegged back each time by strikes from Ronaldo.

The second half belonged almost entirely to Madrid and Ronaldo gave the home side the lead they deserved with his third of the match 10 minutes from time, and two minutes later he provided the pass for the fit-again Kaka to score his first goal of the season.

The Brazil international has only just returned from a knee operation.

The victory means Madrid, who beat Villarreal 6-2 in last season's corresponding fixture, have now won 17 successive competitive matches at home and move back to within two points of leaders Barcelona.

Villarreal remain in third spot, but they are now a massive 11 points behind Madrid in second.

The Yellow Submarine looked capable of trimming the gap between the two - and ending Jose Mourinho's remarkable unbeaten home record in league matches which stretches back almost nine years - after they enjoyed a flying start, opening up the Madrid defence with a fine move right from kick-off.

On that occasion Santi Cazorla saw his shot deflected just wide, but it was the start of what proved to be a torrid first period for the home defence.

The next time the visitors had Madrid in serious trouble was in the seventh minute, and it resulted in the opening goal of the game.

Giuseppe Rossi threaded the ball through on the edge of the box to Cani, who flicked a fine finish past Iker Casillas.

Villarreal's advantage lasted just two minutes though before Madrid drew level with a superbly-worked goal.

Karim Benzema and Mesut Ozil combined well on the edge of the area to put the latter in behind the Villarreal defence and the Germany international's pass was slotted in by the unmarked Ronaldo at the far post.

Despite that setback, Villarreal continued to play their attractive passing game and they retook the lead in the 19th minute through Ruben's excellent finish.

Ruben raced onto Bruno Soriano's through-ball before lifting the ball over the out-rushing Casillas as Madrid appealed in vain for an offside flag.

That looked set to be the half-time scoreline, but Ronaldo had other ideas and he drew the teams level again just before the break, getting to Xabi Alonso's free-kick ahead of Villarreal goalkeeper Diego Lopez to glance the ball in.

Madrid could consider themselves fortunate to be on level terms at the break, but it was a different story after the break as the hosts found themselves increasingly camped in Villarreal territory.

Ronaldo and Angel Di Maria both blazed decent shooting opportunities over before Benzema was denied by Lopez at his near post.

Ronaldo spurned a great opportunity in the 64th minute after finding himself with just Lopez to beat. Perhaps thinking he was offside, the Portugal international dithered on the ball and in the end the shooting chances was lost.

Rossi threatened on a rare Villarreal counter-attack before Madrid went close again, Benzema once more being denied by Lopez.

A Madrid goal was looking increasingly likely, and it duly arrived in the 80th minute through Ronaldo.

He was unable to make the most of his first opportunity but he managed to regain possession before spinning and firing a low left-footed shot into the corner of the net.

That was Ronaldo's 22nd league goal of the season, his fourth hat-trick of the campaign and means he has now scored 64 goals in just 62 appearances since his world-record transfer from Manchester United in 2009.

Ronaldo was not done yet though, and he turned provider soon after to help substitute Kaka wrap up the points with a neat finish.

Mourinho celebrated that goal in front of the Villarreal bench, which did not go down well with the visitors, one of whom threw a water bottle in the direction of the Portuguese.

It missed, but the referee raced over to brandish a red card to one of the Villarreal contingent on the sidelines.

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"We had a spectacular second half"

Mourinho: "The team was brilliant and we won thanks to the courage demonstrated by the entire squad"

Realmadrid.com

Jose Mourinho was brimming with satisfaction following Real Madrid's 4-2 come-from-behind win against Villarreal on Sunday.

"We won thanks to the courage demonstrated by this team. I am very ahppy and think we played a spectacular second half. The yellow team was the only team to play in the first half, but we knew how to respond and in the second half only the white team played. The team was marvelous."

"We were up against a fantastic Villarreal side, which is why I didn't like the first half. I don't like when our opponent has an exceptional first half. They came closer to winning here than any other team and they played great."

"I spoke to my players during halftime and told them that the score was false even thought anything could happen with the score at 2-2. I wanted to change game plans for the second half and the way we were pressuring. We played with three men back, which resulted in only one team attacking and only one defending after the restart."

"We had Marcelo and Di Maria along the flanks, Ozil and Khedira in the midfield and Cristiano and Benzema up front. We had six offensive players plus Xabi Alonso, who was right behind them. Villarreal had it tough, but they could have score on the counter. It was difficult for them, however, to recover the ball. We took a risk and won. You cannot wait in a competition that sees the top teams drop so few points."

"Kaka played great and came in when only we had the ball and when it was difficult to break our stride. It was the perfect scenario for Kaka and Cristiano in the closing minutes and the opponent looking to equalize. The fourth goal was fantastic. There couldn't have been anything better for Kaka than returning to the Bernabeu after so many months and scoring."

"Cristiano leaves me speechless. He shows up game after game and week after week. I don't know how to describe his performance. I went to celebrate the goal with my son, who was sitting behind the Villarreal bench."

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Mourinho: 17 titles in eight seasons

The FIFA World Coach of the Year 2010 winner has won 2 Champions League, 1 UEFA Cup, 6 league, 5 Cup and 3 Super Cup titles

Realmadrid.com

Jose Mourinho (Setubal, Portugal, 26-1-1963) joined Real Madrid one week after winning the Champions League title with Inter Milan at the Santiago Bernabeu. The Nerazzurri hadn't won the title in 45 years, but under the Portuguese coach Inter also won the Italian Scudetto and the Cup of Italy during the 2009/10 season; the first-ever treble in club history. Mourinho also won the Scudetto in his first season at Inter, as well as the Italian Super Cup.

Earlier in his career, Mourinho won six titles in three years at Chelsea. During his first year at Stamford Bridge, he won the Premier League and the Carling Cup. Chelsea won the Premiership again the following year after a tight race with Manchester United throughout the season, which the Blues opened by winning the Community Shield. Mourinho led Chelsea to victory in the FA Cup and the Carling Cup during the 2006/07 campaign.

Before leaving for England, Mourinho won the second Champions League title for Porto in 2004 as well as the Portuguese league title (the first for Porto in four years). With the Portuguese side he also won one UEFA Cup, one Cup of Portugal and one Portuguese Super Cup.

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Mourinho: Thanks to those who love me

Real Madrid manager Jose Mourinho paid tribute to his support staff after he was awarded the new FIFA World Coach of the Year prize.

The Portuguese tactician fought off competition from the other nominated duo of Spain national team manager Vicente del Bosque and Barcelona chief Pep Guardiola to further enhance his reputation as the "Special One."

According to Real Madrid's official website, Mourinho said: "I would like to congratulate two marvelous coaches: Vicente del Bosque and Pep Guardiola. I've worked very hard to reach this far, but I haven't done it on my own. I want to thank my players, my colleagues and, especially, those who love me and who have supported me at all times to get to experience this very special moment."

It is no secret that Mourinho's coup de grace has been the 2009/2010 campaign when he led former side Inter Milan to a historic treble of the Italian Serie A, Coppa Italia and the Champions League crowns.

Coaches and captains of national teams along with journalists from all over the globe awarded the managerial gong to Mourinho as he gained more points than the duo of Del Bosque and Guardiola.

In his maiden season thus far with Madrid, Mourinho has guided the team to 23 wins, three draws and only two losses in 28 official matches.

Real Madrid Director General Jorge Valdano and Director of Institutional Relations Emilio Butragueño travelled to Zurich to support the coach, alongside players Iker Casillas and Cristiano Ronaldo, both of whom were selected as part of the World XI.

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Mourinho's unforgettable year

The coach won the Italian league, the Cup of Italy and the Champions League with Inter Milan last season, signing with Real Madrid in the summer

Laura Navas / Translation by Michael J. O'Donnell

Jose Mourinho's most successful season was, without a doubt, the 2009/10 campaign. The current Real Madrid coach won the Italian league, the Cup of Italy and the Champions League with Inter Milan, confirming his status as the best coach in the world. The icing on the cake to that perfect campaign was signing for Real Madrid in the summer.

Mourinho was presented as Inter Milan's new coach on 3 June 2008, bringing hope to fans and players alike thanks to the great success he had at Porto and Chelsea.

During his first season, the coach won the Italian Super Cup and the league title, which earned him Best Coach honours in the country for the 2008/09 campaign. He went on to lead the team to league, Cup and Champions League success the following year - Inter hadn't won the European Cup title in 45 years.

On 28 May 2010, six days after winning the Champions League at the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium, Real Madrid announced the signing of the Italian manager; President Florentino Perez introduced him as the best coach in the world.

Mourinho has earned 23 victories, 3 draws and only 2 defeats in the 28 official games he's coached at Real Madrid. The Whites are currently in second place in La Liga, where they've won 15, drawn 2 and lost only one game. The Madridistas have reached the quarterfinals of the Copa del Rey, where they will face Atletico Madrid.

In the Champions League, Real Madrid have so far won five games and drawn just one, taking more points than any of the other 32 sides that participated in the group stage, during which the Whites also earned the best goal averages (15 scored, 2 conceded).

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World of football at Mourinho's feet

The Real Madrid coach receives praise from players and managers throughout the world

Laura Navas / Translation by Michael J. O'Donnell

Important football personalitites from throughout the world share praise and admiration for Jose Mourinho.

Hugo Sanchez

"Real Madrid will make headlines again now that Mourinho sits on the bench. What I most like about him is that he is authentic and that he says what he feels. He says the things that have to be said and that may even hurt. His career is admirable and I think he is the right man at the right place. Real Madrid have much to win with him."

Samuel Eto'o

"He is unique as a coach and as a person. He builds good relationships with this and also earns good results."

Pep Guardiola

"He is probably the best coach in the world. Mourinho's career is perfect. His run in several countries is immaculate."

Luis Aragones

"Mourinho has proved he is a great coach. He deserves to win it all."

Kaka

"Mourinho is a great coach. He's won it all wherever he's been."

Juan Carlos Garrido (coach of Villarreal)

"Mourinho makes his teams believe in him. He is a great coach. His CV commands respect."

Zidane

"He is a great coach who's won it all and who has to make Real Madrid win. He can do it. The Club has a lot of discipline, but he has brought even more with him."

Ibrahimovic

"He is a great coach, with a great personality and a very strong character. He knows what has to be done in order to win, and he does it his way."

Sneijder

"One year with Mourinho is worth more than ten with another coach."

Cristiano Ronaldo

"He is the best coach in the world, a natural born winner."

Arrigo Sacchi

"I love Mourinho. He is a great and unique coach. He has internal strength, capacity, charisma, personality, clear ideas and great knowledge. He is truly great. His career proves it."

Figo

"Mourinho is a great communicator, a great coach, honest with his men and a winner."

Van Gaal

"I knew he would some day become the coach he is now. He was already an excellent coach years ago and he is currently one of the best in the world. He is the best of his generation."

Rafa Nadal

"He has proven to be a great coach throughout his entire career. He has won everything he's wanted to win. He has a new challenge ahead of him now."

Maradona

"There is excellent camaraderie on his squad, and that's due to Mourinho, who holds the reins of the team. He is, without a doubt, one of the two or three best coaches in the world. He respects players."

Casillas

"He is the best coach and the best person I know"

Martin Jol (Coach of Ajax)

"Mourinho is probably the best coach in the world. He is a true professional and a very skilled worker who has made all his teams play their finest. He has proven to be probably be the best in his style."

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Mourinho and the great player Xavi Hernandez

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(via unamadridista) In his press conference, Mou said the following:

on the water bottle throwing incident in the Villarreal game: I’m happy that they took away the red card from Cani. I have no problems with him not being sanctioned. But if one of my players had done that, I’m sure he would be sanctioned for three months and if it were me, I would not be allowed to coach anymore. But anyway nothing happened, the bottle was almost empty, it wasn’t an aggression, it was just a gesture of someone else who thought that what I was doing had a negative connotation.

on Gonzalo Higuaín: I tried to speak with him but I wasn’t able to. It’s normal that he doesn’t pick up the phone because he needs to rest. But I spoke with the doctor, and everything is normal. It was as I had expected; I said he would be out for a while. I don’t expect him back this season. I’m not disappointed, what happened is normal.

on his desire for another forward: it’s not a battle between the club and me. I spoke with them two months ago to tell them how I saw the situation. I was honest, because my experience told me that Pipa would not play anymore this season, even though I don’t know much about medicine. The club knows my position, but the club is the decision maker, I work here and the decision of the club is the decision of the club. I can’t tell you any details about the things I spoke with the president or the directors about.

on tomorrow’s line-up: today, I’m not going to reveal the starters. I might make a change. Kaká is progressing, he’s played three games and he’s improving.

on his own behavior: I always try to be honest, only that.

on why the players are starting the concentración at 22h today instead of the usual 20h: Casillas is a bit annoying and he asks me and asks me for that every day (laughs), to give them two extra hours so that they can have dinner at home or outside. In any case, giving them a couple more hours when the game tomorrow is at 22h is something that’s normal.

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Real Madrid to beef-up attack

Real Madrid director general Jorge Valdano has confirmed they are in the market for a striker.

The development is a direct result of the club losing Gonzalo Higuain for a lengthy period.

Higuain underwent an operation on his back injury in Chicago on Tuesday and the doctor who performed the surgery confirmed afterwards the Argentina international would be absent for between three and four months.

That would mean Higuain is unlikely to be available again until the final weeks of the season and would leave Madrid coach Jose Mourinho with just Karim Benzema as his only senior centre-forward.

Madrid had appeared reluctant to bring in a new striker but Valdano admitted on Thursday night they are looking at options.

"We are exploring the market now the uncertainty around Higuain has been resolved. We'll see if we can find a player who can help us for six months," said Valdano following Madrid's 3-1 Copa del Rey quarter-final first leg win over local rivals Atletico.

Numerous strikers have been linked with the Spanish giants, including Miroslav Klose, Emmanuel Adebayor and Nelson Haedo Valdez, but Valdano preferred not to comment on possible targets.

"Many names are being mentioned and it's best not to go into details. But it's true we are looking for a number nine," he said in AS.

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José Mourinho is one of the models of Adidas and Porsche Design Sport’s 2010 fall/winter line, along with Stefan Edberg and Jochen Schümen. He makes a pretty good model, no?