Portuguese manager José Mourinho, the head coach of Real Madrid's first football team, spoke about the match against Real Betis in the 2026/2027 La Liga season.
Real Madrid is preparing to face Real Betis next Friday in the fourth round of the Spanish La Liga.
Real Madrid had previously faced Malaga on Sunday in the third round of the current La Liga season.
The squad managed by Portuguese coach José Mourinho achieved an important 4-0 victory over Malaga at the "Santiago Bernabéu" stadium.
Mourinho said at the pre-match press conference: "Real Madrid must be at its best. Betis is a very good team. To win, we must be at our absolute best."
Regarding Messi's international retirement: "Talking about Messi is complicated. There are no words that can describe him. What we have seen from him is exceptional. He is one of the players we will miss in the world of football. We have to watch some MLS games, which I don't like, of course. There are always players we miss, and we know what that means."
Regarding the young players in Castilla: "Many of them train with me regularly every day, and others come by from time to time. We pay great attention to them. They have performed brilliantly in recent years, and as a result, Thiago Petit was promoted to the first team. Real Madrid has made millions from the transfers of these players."
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He continued: "In the end, these transfers are not considered our main goal because Real Madrid brings these players back whenever it wants. With suspensions and injuries, opportunities will arise for them, and I am getting to know them better all the time. We are in daily contact with La Fábrica (Castilla). I won't contact all of them, but they can be enthusiastic."
Regarding the signing of Sergio Martínez: "He trained with the first team for two days, and we expressed our opinion on the possibility of him joining us. He has potential and experience in La Liga. He needs to work hard because the level of quality and passion here is different. He is here, and he will be here tomorrow. We will see if he plays or not, but it is a step forward."
Regarding the Julian Alvarez and Atletico Madrid crisis: "No one knows the details of the situation better than Simeone. I don't see that I have anything to say on this matter. I say that when a player is not satisfied, and September 1st arrives, he must accept it, or else he will not play until January. From yesterday onwards, and at least until December, he will be an important player for his club."
Regarding Raoul Asencio: "I spoke with him when I arrived about matters from the past. Since my arrival, I no longer discuss matters outside the pitch. Being at Real Madrid is an example of professionalism to be emulated. When he was physically fit, no one trained better than him."
He added: "Now he is the first to arrive and the last to leave, but a Real Madrid player remains a Real Madrid player 24/7, all week long, and all year round. Everything he does outside of football remains Real Madrid. This damages the untouchable prestige of the club. I am not happy, and everyone makes mistakes, but accumulated mistakes are a different matter."
Regarding relying on him: "The club has opened an investigation, and as long as the investigation is ongoing, I consider him a Real Madrid player. He is injured and will remain so for a few weeks, which makes me avoid getting involved in this issue."
Regarding Tchouaméni's absence: "You (journalists) are ruining my peace of mind. We will talk about it tomorrow after the match. We will have a big problem to solve."
Regarding Sebas's departure: "We spoke for 3 minutes on the phone. I told him that I do not rely on him. Players often attach themselves to their contracts, but in this case, it was easy because he told me he preferred to be free to determine his future. Within two days, the player and the club reached this decision."
Regarding the level of competition in La Liga: "Atletico Madrid will be a strong competitor because they certainly believe and feel capable of it. This stability with the same manager and mentality is a great strength in football."
He added: "Then there are strong teams in the Champions League like Real Betis and Villarreal, and we will see that tomorrow. The Basque teams as well, all of them are stubborn teams. For me, this is not an easy league. There is pressure that does not exist in other leagues, which is the pressure of always winning. In Germany or France, they have peace of mind because they will win the title every time. Here, a result that does not bring a win is not a good result."
Regarding his meeting with Pellegrini: "I never hold any ill will towards him because we cannot turn back time. Football history is very long, and there are things you say or do that make you feel like a fool, that you were wrong. I made stupid comments at the time."
He added: "Later, if we hear about it, he will laugh because I paid the price for it, for example, with Chelsea losing the title. He treated me as a truly noble man. In a friendly match between Betis and Roma, with a referee who loved Betis, we were playing with only seven players. He told his players not to press us too hard. They could have scored 8 goals, but they only scored 3. He is a great example as a manager and as a human being."
Regarding Luka Modrić's praise for him: "We wanted him badly, but negotiating with Tottenham was impossible. Levy kept changing his mind, but I wanted him badly. I knew that Luka was the player we needed. You all criticized me for signing him, and Luka was chosen as the worst deal, but now he is part of Real Madrid's history. That is all there is to it."
He concluded: "Did I speak with former managers about that group? I did not speak with Xabi. I spoke with Álvaro, yes, but it was not because of him; I got the information. It is not easy for a former manager to talk about his previous situation, but I did not get the information from him."
