Real Madrid head coach José Mourinho spoke to the media ahead of Sunday’s La Liga clash against Málaga at the Santiago Bernabéu, discussing the fitness of his squad, Yan Diomandé’s progress, the Vinicius-Mbappé partnership, Jude Bellingham, the Ballon d’Or and several other topics.
How is the team physically?
“There are players who, as I keep saying, have had different preparations. But we have a strong squad and enough solutions to deal with that.
“For example, Cucurella will start tomorrow and Álvaro, who played very well against Espanyol and Real Sociedad, will be on the bench. If Cucu runs out of energy, Álvaro can come on. That is the kind of solution a squad like this gives a coach.”
How is Diomandé progressing?
“Diomandé was one of the last players to arrive after a difficult summer because of his situation. He didn’t train properly with Leipzig, so he came here without a real physical base.
“He is improving little by little. He has already had some playing time and that is exactly what he needs. Tomorrow, he will either start or come off the bench. He is becoming better prepared every day.”
How much can Vinicius and Mbappé improve together?
“The key is quality, and they have exceptional quality. The second thing is empathy between two people: friendship, understanding and collaboration.
“When you combine an excellent personal relationship with extraordinary quality, you have everything you need to keep improving. But football is not two players plus nine others. It is eleven players.
“I couldn’t be happier with what I have seen during these two weeks of work together.”
Is Jude Bellingham the glue of this team?
“He is unique and extremely important for us. He has so many qualities: physically, mentally and tactically. He can recover the ball, score goals and dominate in the air. He is impressive.
“I understand why people ask me about Kylian, Vini and Jude, but I am happy with everybody. Here we have great players and some very, very, very great players.
“The fans come to the Bernabéu to watch extraordinary individuals, but they also want to see a team playing, suffering, overcoming problems and dominating together.”
Who deserves the Ballon d’Or?
“It is a beautiful individual award because it allows a player to enter football history. There are maybe 10 or 12 players operating at an extraordinary level, and we have three or four of them here.
“For me, the Ballon d’Or should go to players who, when they retire, we miss forever. I miss Maradona, Ronaldo Nazário, Messi, Zidane and Matthäus.
“You cannot simply give the Ballon d’Or to someone because he won the Champions League or the World Cup. If you want to reward the Champions League, give it to Luis Enrique. If you want to reward Spain, give it to De la Fuente.
“But the best player in the world is something different. There are two, three or four players and we know who they are. We know where they are — here. And we also know who made individual history this summer.
“The Ballon d’Or has a political dimension, and when politics becomes involved, I like it less.”
What do you think about Thiago Pitarch?
“Arbeloa has done fantastic work with the youngsters. Thiago has already shown that Castilla level is no longer enough for him.
“I like him a lot. When he is fully fit, he will be part of the squad and he will get minutes. I told him his leg muscles look like mine and that he needs to gain two kilos through hard work.”
Should attacking players have complete freedom?
“When you have players with unbelievable quality, they can make the coach look like a genius.
“But we work on everything. Today, 45 minutes of training were dedicated to attacking organisation, tactical patterns and movement.
“You need structure, but when difficulties appear, great players decide games. You have to leave space for their creativity and decision-making.”
When will Endrick return?
🚨🗣️ José Mourinho: "You can't award the Ballon d'Or because of the Champions League or the World Cup."
— The Touchline | 𝐓 (@TouchlineX) August 29, 2026
"The Ballon d'Or is someone who, when he retires, we'll miss. We all know who made history this summer." pic.twitter.com/EN7dtUjkeF
“He is the closest player to returning. I don’t want to take risks against Betis. He could return against Betis or for our first Champions League game.
“With Tchouaméni, we need patience. I don’t want him coming back, stopping again and then returning. I want him at 100%, so I prefer to wait a little longer.”
What is harder: coaching or managing the dressing room?
“Ancelotti is great in every area. He has no weakness.
“But personally, I don’t find anything particularly difficult. Problems are natural. We haven’t had our first real problem yet, but it will come. Whether it is tactical or related to managing the squad, we just have to deal with it naturally.”
Comments
No comments yet. Be the first to react.