Real Madrid still a work in progress, Mourinho says ahead of Barcelona clash
Real Madrid coach Jose Mourinho has admitted that the team is yet to reach their full potential ahead of the El Clasico clash against Barcelona on Sunday.
Real Madrid will face the defending champions at the Camp Nou in the first El Clasico clash of the season.
Mourinho rejected the notion that the clash will serve as a test of his ability to win titles, while claiming that ‘Madrid with Mourinho wins titles’.
He said: “No. Madrid with Mourinho wins titles.
“We’ve been working for three months. If you take away the preseason, where players were arriving every week, and the nearly three weeks they spent with their national teams, we’ve been working for a month and a half or two months.
“Far from being a finished product, we are a product in progress. We’re in a phase where the coach is getting to know, analyzing, and defining paths. The players are also getting to know their coach, his way of acting and leading
“Comparing a team in this state with a team that has been together for two or three years doesn’t seem fair to me. Then, when we play less well or when the result is negative, criticism is part of it.”
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Real Madrid have won their last four matches in all competitions, scoring four goals in each of the last three, but Mourinho played down the team’s form ahead of the El Clasico.
He added: “We are in a good dynamic. We win matches, play well, score goals… But in Clasicos, it has no influence; they are different matches. In my experience with Clasicos and derbies, what happens before doesn’t have much significance.
“I said before that the moment tells me nothing or very little in these matches. If instead of winning 4-1 against Leipzig, we had lost 4-1, my mindset going into this match wouldn’t be different.
“I don’t think Barcelona, because they lost one match, will change their mindset and confidence going into this match.”
Real Madrid have lost two matches in their first nine matches of the season in La Liga to sit six points behind Barcelona in the third position.
Barcelona have won all their nine matches in the La Liga, scoring 39 goals and conceding nine.
The El Clasico clash is slated for 9 pm Nigerian time on Sunday at the Camp Nou Stadium.
