José Mourinho, Real Madrid's coach, praised Real Sociedad following Wednesday's La Liga victory, offering special commendation for the royal club's star, Kylian Mbappé.
Real Madrid secured a commanding 4-1 win over Real Sociedad on Wednesday in a postponed match from the first round of La Liga.
The match witnessed an outstanding performance by Kylian Mbappé, who scored a hat-trick to lead Real Madrid to victory yesterday.
After the match, Mourinho stated in remarks quoted by the newspaper "AS": "I want to emphasize that Real Sociedad is an extremely strong team; they caused us many problems. I wish today we had a water break so I could speak with the players around the 25th minute."
He added: "I was surprised by Real Sociedad's performance. Although they didn't create many chances against us, it was difficult to press them. They made us feel uncomfortable until we made substitutions in the second half. However, we maintained our composure. In the second half, we were very strong. There's something I don't like doing, which is talking about specific players, but what Mbappé did was amazing; he possesses extremely high quality."
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Mourinho continued speaking about Mbappé, explaining: "His scoring ability and creativity are truly astonishing. When he saw the team struggling, he dropped back to provide defensive support, integrated well with his teammates, and attempted to link up with Vinícius and Jude Bellingham. He helped us create dangerous chances against Sociedad's goal, appearing wonderfully."
He further remarked: "We played as one unit. There were many outstanding individual performances from the players today. The defense dominated wonderfully, as did the midfield and attack. We could have scored more goals, but Real Sociedad must feel frustrated given their performance yet ultimately losing by four goals."
Regarding Jude Bellingham and Vinícius Júnior, Mourinho continued: "One could talk about them, about Bernardo, about Valverde. The team was truly good. We possess world-class players who provided tremendous support, and everyone recognized that."
Concerning his return to the Santiago Bernabéu Stadium after a 13-year absence, Mourinho continued: "It was more beautiful than I imagined. Winning at this stadium feels wonderful. Before the match, I remained calm. Many years have passed. I have wonderful players in the squad who made me enjoy my time both as a coach and as someone who loves football."
Mourinho continued his remarks during the post-match press conference, adding: "We did a lot of work. It's true we had to play on Wednesdays many times, but I enjoyed it. The last time I was here at the Bernabéu, I ended up watching the match from the stands. We struggled in the first half, and Real Sociedad scored a goal without creating many chances, managing only one shot on target in that half."