Real Madrid manager Jose Mourinho spoke to the media after their 4-1 win over Sevilla on Sunday night. He was asked about Fede Valverde’s performance at right-back, to which he answered: “This is Valverde, one of the most versatile players in football. He can play anywhere and at a very high level. He’s had a great game; it’s not easy for a coach to leave two quality full-backs on the bench, but my feeling was that behind Endrick, I’d really benefit from a full-back with attacking flair and the quality to play. And Fede has done very well. But I can’t convince him of anything. He’s the captain; if he has to play goalkeeper, I’ll give him the gloves and that’s it.”
Mourinho on the game
“It was a good match overall, with many players who individually performed at a high level. We controlled it from the first minute to the last. We scored quality goals and had possession, which doesn’t always reflect the true nature of the game, but today it justifies our dominance. It’s not just about winning, which is the most important thing. It’s about winning, playing well, and having positive feelings.”
Mourinho on Luis Garcia’s quotes
“I’m not going to comment. I want to avoid commenting on Luis’s words, but regarding that incident, no one has shown me what they’re saying happened. I don’t have a clear image; I’ve asked for footage from the TV cameras, from my tactical camera analysts, and I haven’t been able to see what they’re talking about or what bothered Luis. I’m being honest, if one day I think we’ve been favored, I won’t have a problem coming out and saying so. But I think the opposite is going to happen to us much more often; it’s the natural order of things. If someone sends me a clear image of something I haven’t seen by Saturday, I’ll be there. But for now, nothing. For a coach who’s losing by four goals and is given the opportunity to answer four or five questions about something that didn’t happen… It’s good for him. Maybe there are other cameras, but for now, nothing. Has anyone seen a clear image?”
Mourinho on Yan Diomande
“He has a lot to improve. He’s young, he’s naive, an unfinished product. The demands here are very high. Instead of playing like a true player, he plays like a true 125 of what he was paid for… He has a lot to improve, but he played a great game. He can still improve his finishing. He gets into dangerous areas a lot, but he still struggles to relax in the final second, to look up, to look at his teammates… This will come. He reminds me of Vinicius when he arrived at Real Madrid, and three years later he was a top-level player.”
Mourinho on changing certain positions
“I’m only thinking about the Champions League until Wednesday at 11:00 PM, then I’ll focus on the Clásico on Sunday. I’ve changed a few things, but I’ve maintained a certain logic. There were signs in parts of matches that indicated things could work well. This meritocracy thing is very abstract; for me, it’s difficult to say which 11 deserve to play. There are many who deserve to play. Imagine, the one who scored the winning goal in Rome (Rüdiger) stayed on the bench and didn’t play a single minute. I think it was a very good match.”
Mourinho on Vinicius Jr
“He’ll start on Wednesday. The Champions League will keep him motivated. I hope he does well; he’s fresh, he worked hard on his fitness since he didn’t play today. And I hope things go as they deserve and as we need them to because Leipzig isn’t the same team that lost to Bayern. It’s a different team.”
Mourinho on officiating between Barcelona and Betis
“I didn’t see the game. I watched Leipzig. Even though the players aren’t in a training camp, I usually do; I’m old school, and I watched Bayern-Leipzig. I swear, I’m not kidding. I heard about it later, but it’s not a surprise to me. Just another day at the office.”
Mourinho on the entire squad’s importance
“Each one contributes in their own way. Courtois is playing at a very high level, it’s also Lunin’s responsibility, as I said yesterday. There’s no single way to evaluate meritocracy. In my case, there are 24 who deserve it.”
Mourinho on Eder Militao
“He’s very good. He’s only been training with the group for three weeks after being away for so long. He still has a long way to go, but you can see his potential in training. He’s a very important player for the team. We have to be patient, we have to give him these small opportunities so his confidence can grow.”
Mourinho on playing Leipzig
“It would be ideal. There are two objectives in those eight matches: to qualify and then to reach the top eight, which gives you two fewer playoff matches. Last season, Real Madrid had to play those matches, and they’re not welcome games. We earned six points against the two best Italian teams. Leipzig is a very good team that’s coming off a tough loss against Bayern, and teams that are hurting are more dangerous.”
Mourinho on three consecutive wins
“I think we played a great match today. In Rome, an extremely difficult game, the team knew how to react. We are a team and we always work as a team to improve. We’ve only been together a very short time. It’s difficult to have the peace of mind that other coaches have at other clubs, but we’re making the most of every minute we have, and tomorrow we’re back to training, because we’re playing against another team that already played yesterday and has a 24-hour advantage.”