Benfica manager José Mourinho has described former club Real Madrid as a wounded king. This comes after Los Blancos’ shock loss to Benfica in the UCL, and fans have been reacting.
According to him, a vulnerable Real Madrid is a dangerous side to face, and Benfica would need a near-perfect display to advance against the La Liga leaders.
Mourinho added that his players will play both games with lots of ambition and confidence.
His words, “They are wounded. And a wounded king is dangerous. We will play the first leg with our heads, with ambition and confidence. We know what we did to the kings of the Champions League.
I don’t think it takes a miracle for Benfica to eliminate Real Madrid. I think we need to be at our highest level.
I don’t even say high, I mean maximum, almost bordering on perfection, which does not exist. But not a miracle.
Real Madrid is Real Madrid, with history, knowledge, ambition. The only comparable thing is that we are two giants. Beyond that, there is nothing else. But football has this power and we can win.”
On reports linking him to Madrid, “I don’t want to feed stories that don’t exist.
The only thing that exists is that I have one year left on my contract with Benfica. It’s a special contract as it was signed during [the club’s] presidential election process.
It has a clause that can easily be broken by me or Benfica. There’s zero with Real Madrid.
I would love to eliminate Real Madrid, but I would love for Alvaro [Arbeloa] to win LaLiga and to remain at Madrid for many years.
He is very capable, has a lot of Madridista in him and has the personality to coach Real Madrid, which is not for everyone.
I gave everything to Real Madrid. Everything that I had. I’ve done good and bad things but I gave my all and that’s it. When a professional leaves a club with that feeling there ends up being a life-time connection.
I left 12 years ago and I’ve always had the feeling and the affection is there.
I expect tomorrow the Real Madrid that is the main contender to win the Champions League. Beating Real Madrid once is very difficult, beating them twice is much harder. Winning three times, or even in a knockout tie, is even more difficult.
Even more important is their motivation to win the Champions League, not to eliminate Benfica. That’s their objective. And that’s their greatest strength for this match.
For our part, we won in our previous meeting and we know why. But we know that the match won’t be a repeat and that they’ve evolved significantly as a team in a short time.
What I ask of my players is to play with the joy of those that deserve to be here and they deserve to be here. Perhaps it’s better to be here against the great Real Madrid than against a lower-level team.
We’ll enjoy tomorrow’s match. We hope for a result that leaves us with a good feeling. Then we will go to Madrid to compete and we’ll go there with joy and without pressure.”
WOW.
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