Mourinho: “The aim was to start strongly and wrap the game up quickly”

José Mourinho appeared in the Bernabéu press room and analysed the heavy defeat against Rayo Vallecano on matchday five of La Liga: “It was a 45-minute match. That was the end of it, and there’s nothing more to say. I knew the team didn’t have the physical or mental strength to play the second half like the first. A good illustration of what I’m saying is how Bellingham played without any energy for the last ten minutes. Energy isn’t just physical, but mental too. Our concentration dropped, and we made mistakes and lost possession during the build-up. We also struggled to press, and Rayo – who hadn’t threatened in the first half – had more shots on goal. I expected the match to go this way, given our Champions League experience. The aim was to start strongly and wrap the match up quickly, and we achieved that.”

Güler

“I agree with you. Arda plays a lot, but I’m 100 per cent sure that if Diomande doesn’t start today, the first question would be why he isn’t playing or when he’ll play. Our bench is packed with quality, and after every match there’ll be questions about why one player starts and not another. Arda is very good. Brahim had a very good match against Inter. Diomande is working hard to improve and has great potential. We’ve got a strong squad, but to answer your question, Arda is very good; he’s got a lot of quality and has a positive influence on the team’s play. When he came on, he made a real difference to the game.”

Do you feel under pressure to play Diomande?

I’m a bit too old to feel the pressure to pick him. There are squads where you have to pray that nobody gets injured, and others with plenty of options. Diomande will gradually improve, and he’s had very little experience of top-level European football. Last season at Leipzig and little else. He has a lot to learn from a tactical point of view, but you can clearly see he has incredible potential in one-on-one situations, in the centre, with his shooting… He’s a very strong player and gives us loads of options. He can play in Vini Jr.’s position and on the right wing. Arda can play on the right and in Jude Bellingham’s position. I have to make choices and, at the moment, I want to develop Diomande because I already know what the others can offer me.”

Vini Jr.

“Physically, he’s in better shape than ever. He’s just a millimetre short of reaching his top speed, but his ability to sustain effort is immense. I set high standards of him defensively too, and it’s a process he’s getting to grips with. Mentally, he’s very strong and knows Madrid better than anyone. All his life he has played with a huge sense of responsibility – the responsibility of playing for Real Madrid and the Brazilian national team. He’s a lad who’s completely calm. He knows himself very well and understands his body very well. He knows full well that he’s getting there. Right now, it’s a time for assists, for forcing his mind to interpret the game from a defensive perspective, and the goals will come.”

The final substitution

“It’s very simple. I want to win by as many goals as possible, but when you’re 3–1 up with five minutes to go and you’re up against a Rayo right-back who’s a brilliant player – very attacking, quick, powerful, with an incredible ability to keep pushing forward and cause problems down that flank – I felt it was better to shut the door. For me, the time for fancy footwork and scoring more goals was over. Then we scored the fourth – even better.”