Mourinho talks Valverde, Vinicius, Cristiano Ronaldo, Konate ahead of Valencia vs Real Madrid

Real Madrid will lock horns with Valencia tomorrow at Mestalla in their final match before the second international break of the season.

The Merengues are currently third in the La Liga table, three points behind leaders Barcelona and one below Atletico Madrid in second.

With the top two teams set to face off against each other on Sunday, this provides Real Madrid a perfect opportunity to get closer to the top of the standings.

Coming into the match on the back of a comeback 3-2 win over AEK Athens in the UEFA Champions League, Los Blancos will be eager to extend their recent winning streak.

Ahead of the trip to Mestalla to face Javier Aguirre’s side, Real Madrid boss Jose Mourinho spoke to the media in his pre-match press conference, discussing various topics including the situation of Vinicius Jr.

Kicking things off, the Portuguese tactician discussed the atmosphere in the dressing room, saying:

“I think we’re doing well. We arrived from Athens at three in the morning, but we’re staying here to try and get a couple more hours of sleep.”

“We did recovery training yesterday and the feedback from the players is positive. It will be difficult, but we’re not going to dramatize it.”

Mourinho then spoke about former Real Madrid megastar Cristiano Ronaldo’s decision to announce retirement from international football, saying:

“His decision must be respected, and I respect it. He hasn’t finished his career; those who know him know he still has goals for his career, and the only thing I would like is for his retirement as a player to be different from yesterday’s.”

“As for whether I see him as a coach, I don’t know what to say. It’s still too early.”

On whether a trip to Mestalla brings back happy memories for him, Mourinho remarked: “I’m not one to dwell on things. More than Mestalla, I see Valencia as a club.

“The most important thing is tomorrow’s match, which I consider one of the toughest in the entire league.”

“They have a very demanding manager, with a wealth of experience, who knows perfectly well the philosophy he wants for his teams. It will be a difficult match for us. To win, we have to be at our best.”

With Barcelona facing Atletico Madrid on Sunday, Mourinho was asked what would be his preferred outcome from that game, to which he replied:

“Let them both lose, but it’s not possible. They’re going to lose points, and that’s the best news. Honestly, I don’t care what happens.”

On if he believes that the international break will disrupt the team’s momentum, he added:

“I’m afraid of tomorrow’s game. ‘Afraid’ in quotes. The difficulty of the game is my concern; the national team isn’t my problem. I’m not worried at all about a player having the honor of playing for his country.”

“The problem for me is tomorrow’s game, against a fresh team that has had all week to prepare and with a coach who isn’t concerned about how his team is going to play.”

The Real Madrid manager then discussed the impact of captaincy on Federico Valverde and how it had changed him, as he said:

“I can’t compare him to last season because I didn’t know him. I’ve seen a professional, humble guy, a friend to his teammates.”

“He’s a good example for everyone, and obviously I think that being captain has given him a sense of responsibility.”

On whether he plans to rotate heavily and rest some of his players for tomorrow’s game, Mourinho replied:

“I’m not thinking about that. It’s easy to understand that Konate and Dean will play tomorrow. We’ll distribute minutes among the players we can.”

“But now, thanks to the decision that we’re playing on Saturday, the players who are with their national teams have Sunday off.”

The talk then steered towards Vinicius Jr. and his poor form with questions even being asked of his fitness and whether he is at 100%.

“For me, the most important thing is the team. I have never, of my own volition, wanted to harm the team to benefit a player. Vinicius played in the last two Champions League matches, yes,” Mourinho said.

“But when he returns to normal and is available, I will manage things accordingly. As a coach, I don’t think game by game; I also think about the sequence of matches we have. The match against AEK was a game for Vinicius.”

Continuing, he added: “A coach must do everything to get his players at their best and try different game strategies, both individually and in terms of their performance. A bad player will always be a bad player. But a good player will have their off days.”

“If Vinicius were a bad player, you would say he played well in Athens. He will continue working, and when it comes to deciding who plays, the team comes before any individual player.”

Concluding, Mourinho was asked if he believed that he had reached the ‘intermediary’ stage of the work he wanted to do upon returning to Real Madrid.

In response, he said: “In some matches we’ve had to come from behind. And coming from behind means some positive things, but also some negative ones.”

“Coming from behind means having a deep bench, the belief of a group, knowing what shirt you wear… but it also has its negative side, and that’s something we have to work on. There’s a lot to do.”