Benfica manager José Mourinho has been linked with a return to former club Real Madrid after an unbeaten season
With Real Madrid’s season falling apart in recent weeks and amid ongoing crises on and off the field of play, some have nostalgically looked to José Mourinho and suggested that a return of the Portuguese manager could put Los Blancos back where they should be.
Mourinho, 63, is currently in charge of Benfica who are two Liga Portugal games away from an unbeaten league campaign. That hasn’t been enough to deliver the title, though, with Porto safely nine points clear, and it may not even be enough to secure 2nd place, with Sporting CP level on points in 3rd.
Benfica won the Portuguese Supercup before Mourinho arrived but were knocked out of the Cup and League Cup by Porto and Braga respectively in January. In the Champions League, meanwhile, it was Real Madrid themselves who put the Eagles to the sword in a tempestuous affair in February.
Despite some impressive results in isolation, such as a 4-2 win over Madrid in the Champions League group stage, as well as a characteristic doggedness and difficulty to defeat, Mourinho’s team have hardly excelled this season. The calls for him to return to the Spanish capital, where he delivered one LaLiga title in three years, are perhaps based more on sentiment than logic.
Figo doesn’t want his compatriot to return to Madrid
Another Portuguese icon with a Madrid connection is Luis Figo, but he doesn’t believe his compatriot would be the right choice to get Los Blancos back on track next season. Some feel that Mourinho would be the ideal man to instil some discipline into a squad clearly lacking it – just look at this week’s incidents with Kylian Mbappé, Federico Valverde and Aurélien Tchouaméni – but Figo doesn’t think the strict approach is the right one.
“At Real Madrid, the iron-fisted approach doesn’t work,” Figo said at a recent promotional event when asked about the possibility of Mourinho returning to Madrid.
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“You need to understand football, have common sense, know the club and its surroundings.
“[The key is] to know how to handle the players’ egos to convince them to pull in the same direction.”
Figo not ruling out Mourinho return
However, the former midfielder didn’t want to rule out the possibility of a Mourinho-Madrid reunion and insisted he would be happy to see it, despite his comments that characters in the mould of Zinedine Zidane or Carlo Ancelotti are the models for success as Madrid manager.
“I don’t know if Mourino will sign [for Real Madrid], you’d have to ask Florentino [Pérez],” said Figo.
“José is a friend of mine and I wish all my friends the best.
“If coaching Madrid would make him happy, I’d welcome that.”
