How I risked everything for Elche victory –Mourinho
Real Madrid coach Jose Mourinho has revealed that he risked everything to lead the team to a last-minute 3-2 win over Elche in a La Liga encounter on Tuesday.
Real Madrid raced to a 2-0 lead in the first half thanks to an own goal from Elche goalkeeper Matías Dituro and a stunning strike by Kylian Mbappe.
Elche bounced back in the second half with two goals to make it 2-2.
Mourinho brought on the likes of Espi and Endrick to make it six attack-minded players on the pitch.
Bellingham fed Mbappé, who crossed for Espí to score the winning goal in the 91st minute.
The Portuguese manager opened up on his decision to bring on two attackers.
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Mourinho said: “With the changes at the end, I risked everything. We won, but we could have lost. We had to do it, because a draw isn’t enough.
“[Espí] is doing well, making an important contribution to the team. He has a problem in front of him, which is a player who isn’t a normal player [Mbappé], and playing with both together isn’t easy.”
Mourinho admitted that there is a defensive problem in the team after they threw away a 2-0 lead.
He said: “In games that seem like they’re done, we have three, four, five chances to kill it, and we don’t. We didn’t score, we didn’t finish it with the 3 or 4-0. When it seems easy, you leave things like that, away from home at these stadiums.
“They get a goal and it’s an open game. The good thing is that in difficulty, the team reacts and wins.”
The win allowed Madrid to go level on points with Barcelona at the top of the La Liga table, ahead of Barca’s game against Racing Santander on Wednesday.
