Jose Mourinho, known for his fiery temper and poisonous tongue, has softened his tone as his former club Real Madrid face a tense match against Benfica.
Benfica manager Jose Mourinho said ahead of the final Champions League match that Real Madrid opponent Alvaro Arbeloa is like a child to him.
The veteran Portuguese manager, known for his fiery temper and poisonous tongue, coached Arbeloa at Madrid when he was in charge of Los Blancos from 2010 to 2013 and had a strong relationship with the former defender in a divided dressing room.
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Mourinho said last week he would never want to make life difficult for his former manager, after commenting last week that he was “surprised” that an inexperienced manager being in charge of one of Europe’s biggest clubs was seen as a disrespect to new Madrid manager Arbeloa.
Former Inter Milan manager Mourinho said in Italy that his comments were seen as criticism of the appointment of Cristian Chivu as Serie A manager last year.
“There is one problem: Chivu and Arbeloa are both my children, they are not just former players, but they are special,” Mourinho said at a press conference on Tuesday.
“As for Alvaro, I would say that he is one of my favorite players, from a human point of view, from a personal point of view and from a personal empathy point of view.
“Obviously he’s not the best player to have played for Real Madrid, but for me he’s certainly one of the best players to have played for Real Madrid.”
Mourinho said he was surprised when he was given the opportunity to manage Benfica at the start of his managerial career in 2000, and said he could not take those words as an insult.
“The last thing I want to do is put pressure on him,” the 63-year-old explained. “I hope everything goes well for him and he has a great coaching career.”
Mourinho said he had not spoken to Arbeloa since the 43-year-old replaced Xabi Alonso in charge, but said there was no need to.
“My phone number is very complicated because I only have the club number and then only my family has it. And my other phone is always changing, changing, changing,” Mourinho explained.
“People lose touch with me and I lose touch with them. With Alvaro, you don’t have to call him to say, ‘Good luck,’ and he knows that.
“Alvaro wants Benfica to win, just as I want[Real Madrid to win the game]but after that he always wants Benfica to win. That’s for sure. There’s no need for a call.”
Mourinho admitted he could not yet comment on Arbeloa’s qualifications as a manager as he had not seen any of Madrid’s substitutes or youth team matches.
“I don’t know him so I can’t analyze him as a manager,” Mourinho said.
“I only saw the results, I didn’t follow the trajectory of the young Madrid players with my own eyes.
“I have nothing to advise him. All that matters to me is that he is happy and loves it, because coaching these days is a very difficult mission.”
Madrid will seal their place in the last 16 with a win, but Benfica need a win and could expect another result to advance to the play-off round.
