Mourinho: “Atlético will give us a difficult match; all derbies are tough”
“We have to win but our rival has quality and ambition”
The manager of Real Madrid, José Mourinho, praised Atlético de Madrid during his pre-game press conference leading up to Sunday’s classic at the Bernabéu. The Portuguese head coach highlighted that “Atlético will give us a difficult match because all derbies are tough. I understand that there’s something more at stake than just the three points. We have to win because we want to stay at the top, but we have to be aware that our opponent has quality and ambition.”
Regarding the fact that Atético hasn’t won at the Bernabéu in years, the manager of Madrid said that “statistics are numbers from the past and in football they don’t mean anything. It’s surely a good reflection of it being difficult to win at the Bernabéu.”
Concerning his undefeated streak at the held of Real Madrid, he stated that “a team that plays at home and that plays to win championships can’t play thinking about records. I don’t play for statistics, I play to win championships, and to do that you have to win matches.”
Mourinho doesn’t want to take the derby as an exam. “All games are tests. We’ve played against tough, skilled teams and have done so very well. We know that we have to score one more goal than Atlético to earn the three points. Atlético has high quality players up front, a great midfield, a defence that will be very focused and a goalkeeper that has the bad luck that Iker Casillas has the same passport. It’s a quality team that will give us a tough match.”
The ‘blanco’ head coach is confident that his team will get the win. “If my team plays as it has to play, at the top of our potential, focused and motivated, and plays a normal game, we’ll win. The starters today are going to be reserves tomorrow and the reserves today, starters tomorrow. It’s not a team that follows a protocol, not an eleven-month team, it’s a day-to-day team. I can’t speak about starters and substitutes. I have confidence in the whole group. Groups are what win titles. Without a group you don’t win anything. And without a response from players like th eones I have, you don’t win absolutely anything. It’s very easy to be a manager, to be leaders and have a team that will surely celebrate something with players like the ones I have.”
Regarding the fact that Atético hasn’t won at the Bernabéu in years, the manager of Madrid said that “statistics are numbers from the past and in football they don’t mean anything. It’s surely a good reflection of it being difficult to win at the Bernabéu.”
Concerning his undefeated streak at the held of Real Madrid, he stated that “a team that plays at home and that plays to win championships can’t play thinking about records. I don’t play for statistics, I play to win championships, and to do that you have to win matches.”
Mourinho doesn’t want to take the derby as an exam. “All games are tests. We’ve played against tough, skilled teams and have done so very well. We know that we have to score one more goal than Atlético to earn the three points. Atlético has high quality players up front, a great midfield, a defence that will be very focused and a goalkeeper that has the bad luck that Iker Casillas has the same passport. It’s a quality team that will give us a tough match.”
The ‘blanco’ head coach is confident that his team will get the win. “If my team plays as it has to play, at the top of our potential, focused and motivated, and plays a normal game, we’ll win. The starters today are going to be reserves tomorrow and the reserves today, starters tomorrow. It’s not a team that follows a protocol, not an eleven-month team, it’s a day-to-day team. I can’t speak about starters and substitutes. I have confidence in the whole group. Groups are what win titles. Without a group you don’t win anything. And without a response from players like th eones I have, you don’t win absolutely anything. It’s very easy to be a manager, to be leaders and have a team that will surely celebrate something with players like the ones I have.”