13 years after his first stint with Real Madrid ended, Jose Mourinho has returned to the Bernabéu as head coach. Real Madrid president Florentino Perez’s promised to appoint the 63-year-old for the role if he was re-elected as club president.
After beating his rival by picking up 65% of the votes, Perez delivered on the promise, paying Benfica £13m in compensation to bring the Special One back to Spain. Mourinho had been in charge of the Portuguese side for only one season and led them to an unbeaten league campaing. However, the side finished a distant third in the title race.
Los Blancos confirmed the former Porto coach’s arrival in an official club statement, announcing that he has signed a three-year deal with the Spanish giants.
While Mourinho arrives with a proven pedigree, his record since leaving Madrid in 2013 has been mixed. After departing Madrid, he returned to Chelsea and won his third Premier League title with the club in 2015. But in December that year, he was let go after a poor run of results. A near three year spell in charge of Manchester United followed and while he delivered EFL Cup and a Europa title, he was sacked by the Red Devils in 2018.
A two-season spell in charge of Tottehnam didn’t bring much success but he did lead AS Roma to the Europa Conference League title in 2022, ending the Italian club’s 11-year trophy drought. Since then, his stints at Turkish side Fenerbahçe and then Benfica have yielded no trophies.
His return to Bernabéu comes at a time when the club has gone back-to-back seasons without any trophies and faces the challenge of restoring not only their reputation but bringing order to troubled dressing room.
Jose Mourinho saw immense success in first Real Madrid
Real Madrid brought in Jose Mourinho for the first time in 2010. His task was to stop the rampant Barcelona side under Pep Guardiola. Barca had won two league titles in a row along with a Champions League crown in 2009.
Mourinho’s first season saw him deliver the Copa del Rey after beating the Nou Camp side 1–0 in the final, ending their 18-year wait for domestic Cup success. This was also their first trophy since the 2007-08 La Liga triumph.
Next season, his Real Madrid side romped to the league title with a record-breaking 100 points. They also set the record for most goals scored (121) and most games won in a La Liga season (32).
The two-time Champions League winner also led his side to Spanish Super Cup success next season, beating Barca on away goals after the two legs ended 4-4. However, player rift and a divided fanbase meant he left the club at the end of the season.
Now, 13 years later he returns with the same task. End Barcelona’s dominance at home. Jose Mourinho has a team full of world class talent like Kylian Mbappe, Vinicious Jr. and Jude Bellingham and will be keen to prove that he can still get the results at the highest level.
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