Mourinho says his return to Madrid is driven by a fresh ambition to win the Champions League rather than unfinished business from his first spell.
Real Madrid manager Jose Mourinho has declared that his mission in his second spell at the Santiago Bernabéu is to win the UEFA Champions League title for the Spanish giants.
Ahead of Tuesday’s blockbuster Champions League opener against Serie A giants Inter Milan, Mourinho, who returned to Madrid in June, insisted he is driven by fresh ambition rather than past regrets.
The Portuguese coach previously managed Real Madrid from 2010 to 2013, won one La Liga, one Copa del Rey, and one Supercopa de España, while reaching the Champions League semifinals three times.
Mourinho finally reveals the real reason he returned to Madrid
Speaking before the clash at the Santiago Bernabéu, Mourinho admitted that winning the Champions League remains a major objective.
“I’m here also because I want to win the Champions League with Real Madrid. Of course I want,” he said.
Meanwhile, the Portuguese coach described his current spell as an entirely new challenge.
“No, it is two different spells. When I left in 2013, we won what we won and lost what we lost, and we gave it our all. What I need to do now has nothing to do with the past,” he said during the pre-match press conference as reported by Reuters.
Mourinho also reflected on how dramatically Real Madrid’s fortunes in Europe have changed since he first arrived in 2010.
He recalled inheriting a team that struggled to progress beyond the latter stages of the competition before helping lay the foundation for future success.
He added, “Back in 2010, we weren’t even reaching the quarter-finals of the Champions League, and it had been ages since we’d played in a semi-final. Now we’ve won six Champions Leagues in a little over a decade.”