Mourinho ready for Real grudge match

Chelsea meet manager’s former club in friendly today.

MIAMI:

Jose Mourinho has a golden opportunity to make a point to Real Madrid when the Chelsea manager faces his old club in Miami today.

Mourinho will go head to head with Madrid in the final of the International Champions Cup just three months after his acrimonious departure from the Spanish giants.

After feeling unloved for much of his time in Madrid, the Portuguese coach is enjoying his second spell at Chelsea. The hero worship that follows his every move in England is a far cry from the hostile reaction to his presence in Spain.

By the time he departed Madrid, Mourinho had made numerous enemies among the squad, with his decision to drop iconic goalkeeper Iker Casillas a especially sore point, as well as falling out with some of the club’s hierarchy, while fans jeered the manager in the final weeks of last season.

However, Mourinho’s exit and the arrival of the more affable Carlo Ancelotti as his replacement has been the trigger for the kind of spending spree that the out-spoken 50-year-old would have relished with Real signing Asier Illarramendi, Isco, Daniel Carvajal and Casemiro.

Little wonder that Mourinho, took the opportunity for a swipe at Madrid’s culture of political intrigue.

“Madrid is politics. Madrid is not about football, Madrid is not about sport,” he said.

In the circumstances, Mourinho would clearly relish the opportunity to give his former employers a reality check in today’s glamour friendly.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 7^th, 2013.

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