Mourinho unfiltered: Vinícius Jr., Endrick, rookie Espí, and a settled squad | OneFootball

4,834 days later, José Mourinho is back in charge of Real Madrid in an official match at the Santiago Bernabéu. Thirteen years and almost three months separate the 4-2 win over Osasuna (1 June 2013) from the scheduled visit of Real Sociedad (26 August 2026).

Mourinho insists he is 'calmer' and 'not the same man' anymore, but anyone listening to him would be left with reasonable doubts. At 63, the Special One remains defiant, sometimes threatening, and still steers the conversation towards the topics that matter most to him.

That was the case on Tuesday morning in Madrid. The Portuguese coach did not dodge any of the hottest topics around Los Blancos and began by talking about refereeing. First came the criticism, then the vote of confidence.

MOURINHO IN HIS OWN WORDS:

"It is the first home game, but only one of 19. Every point matters," the charasmatic coach said about his first home game since his return to Real Madrid. 

"The aim is to win, while respecting a team that deserves respect. They have identity and great players. On our visit to Espanyol we felt their fans’ support, and what we want now is the same in our favour. I want a team with hunger, attitude, resilience, strength and calmness."

Mourinho went on to discuss refereeing: "It is obvious that Vinícius Júnior is treated differently compared with others. We have entered a spiral: opponents feel they can [foul Vinícius] and they do. This is like dealing with small children: they only go where we allow them to go. I do not like it. He was kicked against Espanyol, and that was a sending-off. Apart from that and one or two details, I liked the refereeing. I understand the referee did not see that foul, but the VAR did not do its job properly. But I trust Spanish refereeing."

Vinícius Jr is always a hot topic in world football and Mourinho continued talking about the Brazilian star: "We have to work on his relationship with opposing stadiums. He can improve in that regard. He hears homophobic and racist comments, so he has to control himself. Me, calmer That is not new. I control my emotions better. Difficult moments will come, but I feel the people at Real Madrid are protecting me from my darker side [laughs]."

Mourinho went on to say that he was 'happy' with his squad and had no requests to bring in any new players.

The manager was also asked about the fit between Jude Bellingham, Kylian Mbappé, and Vinícius: "The most difficult thing is not having top players or dealing with a serious injury to one of them. I do not want to give too much away to our opponents. I always want the three of them in good spirits, and I will be here to help them."

The next topic was another key player, Fede Valverde: "Out of necessity, some coaches have trained him as a right-back. For me, Fede is a midfielder. It will depend on the objectives and the opposition. He can be more positional or not. Teams need solutions; a full-back today can be a winger or play inside, like Trent Alexander-Arnold."

Then there was discussion about young players, including Endrick: "He has a muscle problem that affects his tendon. He is a player I like very much. He received interest from many other clubs, but I want to keep him, which is why he was neither loaned out nor sold. I do not know whether he will be called up by Brazil by Ancelotti, but Carlo is a friend of mine and he will speak to me directly."

And finally the topic moved on to new arrival, young forward Carlos Espí: "He can play with Mbappé. In pre-season, I paired Endrick with Mbappé. Espí is a different kind of player. In the last match, Espanyol sat deep and Mbappé dropped back trying to create something individually. I felt Espí could be important."