Jose Mourinho says he has endured “bad luck” with refereeing whenever he has taken charge of certain clubs, while reflecting on his time at Real Madrid, the Negreira case and the controversy involving Vinicius and Briestiani.
The Portuguese manager was speaking about his relationship with officials after Real Madrid’s 2-1 derby defeat. His comments were published by AS from an interview with Corriere dello Sport.
“My relationship with referees? I do not think the problem lies with me. The problem is the bad luck I have when I arrive at a particular club,” Mourinho said.
He also recalled the period when the Negreira case was developing during his time at Real Madrid.
“I lived through the important stage of the Negreira case here at Real Madrid. Nobody knew about it, but we lived through it. It happened,” he said.
“I left afterwards and now everyone knows about it. But I was thinking about something else, in Turkey, after a major Turkish scandal. This type of situation happened to me many times.”
Mourinho recalls Real Madrid return
Mourinho also described how speculation began about his return to Real Madrid, despite there initially being no contact between the two parties.
“Usually, there is contact first, and then the noise begins when something is already in progress. But here, the opposite happened completely. The noise started when there had been no contact,” he said.
“I was at Benfica and happy. It is a special club for me, 10 minutes from my home, and that had not happened for 20 years.”
Mourinho said Benfica needed fundamental change and that he expected to remain at the club under his three-year contract.
“I thought I would stay there under my three-year contract. Then the noise started. I was surprised by it and did not attach any importance to it. I told myself: ‘It is just a rumour.’”
He said Real Madrid had already changed managers midway through the season before Arbeloa took over, although the outcome of that appointment was not yet known.
“Real Madrid had changed its manager in the middle of the season, and then Arbeloa came in. The results were not known yet, and the noise began. But nobody told me anything. When the rumours started, I told myself that it could not be true. I never thought it might actually happen.”
Mourinho then addressed the incident involving Vinicius and Briestiani, describing it as an especially difficult moment.
“It was a very sensitive and difficult point for us because Briestiani was eventually suspended, and not because of racism. I was a victim of public opinion, and essentially of many opportunists, because of a situation that was completely outside my control,” he said.
“You have one player saying it is not true, and nobody has proof that it is true. You cannot take a position. Whatever you say, public opinion will still be wrong. What I really like about the end of this story is that, on one side, there was a wonderful young man, and on the other, there was an exemplary young man.”
