Pre-match: Benfica vs Real Madrid |UCL Group stage #8|28.01.26 21:00 CET

Mou doing everything to get RM job next.

🗣️ Mourinho on the UCL draw: "We only had two options, Real Madrid or Inter Milan. We didn't have much choice. We drew the king.

The other day, when a Real Madrid player offered me his shirt after the match, I jokingly showed my players the badge they had on their shirts. 15 of… pic.twitter.com/aDQUH7D7aB

— Madrid Xtra (@MadridXtra) January 31, 2026

 

Mou is twerking hard. I think he’s one of the top candidates in Flo’s mind.

 

Haha, seeing these quotes, makes me think you may be right. Regardless of me not seeing it happen ever.

 

At least if Mou becomes manager we know the club has hit rock bottom and even though trophies will be few and far between like with the Spanish tacticians (Benitez, Lopetegui) a brighter day will arrive in when they leave.

 

We have away 20 shots against Monaco, a mid-table Ligue 1 team. It was hardly a great performance.

 

Benfica cleverly practiced the touchline passes bypassing the RB and allowing the winger into space. It was brilliant. And they managed to find efficient diagonals from the wings to central zones or half-zones. It was a masterpiece tactically tbh. Arbeloa should have reacted sooner.

 

Real Madrid loses to Benfica over two legs, but Mourinho stays in Madrid to immediately take over from Arbeloa.

 

People change, and more importantly are contradictory and driven by self-interest. At the time Mourinho's responsibility was toward Madrid's success. He made mistakes - but I'm not sure his assessment of that situation was. The Barca players were uniquely vicious toward ours, and a climate of subjugation and an inferiority complex had settled in. A meeker option would have seen us getting pummeled and losing "with grace". The club should have done more to put pressure on referees and investigate why we were getting yellows/red cards/pens constantly against those cheaters.

 

Well madrid's team impoved materially via acquisitions (bale, modric) and the existing players all improved while barcelona declined.

 

Not bale my friend... he was purchased after Mourinho left. And yes Modric's first season was with Mou, but he was still being transitioned into the team. Bale revolutionized our squad and took us to the next level (see CDR final goal, UCL goals, etc.)

 

At least we could recycle this thread for the UCL Playoffs

 

Crazy considering he hasn't lost a league game in 16/17 games now? 7 draws is a lot.

 

Well we can speculate ad nauseam which is useless.
In your theoretical scenario, this would be sfter the fallout between casillas and mou which derailed our 2013.
I wiuld say if bale was added in 2011 - then yes mourinho would have won the ucl with that team

 

Benfica cant finish

 

As you saw - I don't think Mourinho is anywhere near perfect and has his share of mistakes and blame. And we saw how his faults reared their ugly head later in his career. I think my point is we needed to go to war to beat Barcelona - that much he correctly identified - and I do believe that Casillas' move was uncalled for and meek. Did he consult the other Real Madrid players? Not to my knowledge. Nobody does that sort of thing in a rivalry.

 

I think we just have contrasting opinions on the matter - and it will be hard to reconcile. As I said we both share the viewpoint that Mourinho erred - his eye poke moment was egregious, and he should have been far more tactful and clever when butting heads with casillas instead of the power move he wanted to apply. He made those mistakes and paid for it.
What I will not agree with you is twofold - the mentality Mourinho brought was the only way to restore pride, rivalry, and competitiveness with Barcelona - and it worked.
I don't think Mourinho is washed up. I think it's extremely hard for a coach to be. They either lose interest (he hasnt) or fail to retain critical support staff (he hasnt). Do I think he is the savior for the team some have styled him? No - it's wishful thinking. When he built the best team, he had inherited 2Bdor winners and the best young attacker on the planet among other top players.