José Mourinho interview: Real Madrid coach on league phase opponents in the Champions League and his return to the Santiago Bernabéu

Hired as Real Madrid coach for the second time this summer, José Mourinho is ready to take on the UEFA Champions League again, last week's draw having set him up with meetings with Arsenal and Inter among others.

One of the greatest coaches of the Champions League era, Mourinho established his reputation by winning the competition with Porto in 2003/04, then repeated the feat at Inter in 2009/10 following the first of two glittering spells at Chelsea. Madrid coach from 2010 to 2013, the 63-year-old tells UEFA why he left a dream job at Benfica to return to the 15-time European champions.

This interview was conducted on 1 September 2026.

On how it felt to be asked to return to Madrid

It's the second time I've gone back to a club. I'd gone back to Chelsea. I left the club in 2008, more or less, I returned in 2013. When I came to Real Madrid in 2010, I came to the club having won the treble. I won the Champions League and everything with Inter, as well as the first FIFA Ballon d'Or for coaches. I came having had an all-conquering season. This time around, I hadn't won anything before joining. I came here with the foundations of what the club knew about me. Based on what they were going through, the club thought that I was the answer, that it was me who could help them out. For me, this moved my sense of pride.

Last season in Portugal, I didn't hide what Benfica meant for me, which was something I managed to hide almost throughout my career. I was at ease at Benfica, I liked being there, and I was convinced that we were building something that would bring results in the short term, but Real Madrid is Real Madrid, and that's that.

On Madrid's league phase opponents

Everyone knows about Inter and Arsenal. Arsenal have been chasing the Champions League for more than 20 years and, this past season, they were one game away from achieving it. They have the potential to do it, and they will want to go all out for it. [Inter] have a fantastic team, and I would say that they improve every year because they are a team that has worked with coaches for many years who play with the same five-at-the-back system. One player leaves, a better one comes in. Obviously, they will each be fighting to win the Champions League this season.

Roma have a truly special team this season. There are teams like Leipzig, PSV and AEK [Athens], teams with great European tradition. I don't want to let my arrogance get the better of me and say that we will definitely qualify. I think we will qualify, but I think we will suffer and will have to take it game by game, looking to get the points.

On making a positive start on his return to Madrid

We need to be optimistic, but realistic, while keeping our heads. We need to be optimists in the sense of knowing that a bad spell will come, and know that by putting together a strong, unified and optimistic group, it's the best way of overcoming difficult moments when they come because the season isn't a motorway — there are upward and downward slopes, as well as bends along the way, and we must be able to overcome them. We've started our campaign with wins, we've been playing good football and giving a different impression compared to last season.

On living under constant pressure

Real Madrid is a massive club, and we're aware of that. There is a tremendous weight of responsibility on our shoulders, of course, and the expectations are huge as well, but I'm comfortable with it.

[The spotlight] continues and shines on me for every game. My own staff, my own analysts, know that as soon as a game finishes and we get on a coach or board a plane, they already have to give me the working material for the next game. I don't even have the following day to say to myself: "I'm not going to think about football. I'm not going to think about the next game. I have time to do that." It's always a cycle that repeats itself from one game to the next.

On what keeps him motivated 

I always have to win the next game. I believe I started on this cycle over 20 years ago – a cycle I will only get out of once I leave it for good, but it's a cycle of "I want to win the next game", "What's the most important competition?" I never have the right answer for those questions because if there's a Copa del Rey game for us to play tomorrow, then the Copa del Rey becomes the most important competition. Then, after tomorrow, if the next game is in the league, then the league becomes the most important competition.

My ambition keeps coming back, and it doesn't do so from one time to another, but rather game by game. If I won yesterday, I want to win again. If I lost yesterday, I don't want to lose again; I want to win instead on this cycle whereby that ambition keeps coming back. That's my true nature.

Mourinho on the bench at Benfica in 2000Getty Images