Mourinho insists Real Madrid owe him nothing as he targets victory against Inter Milan

Jose Mourinho says Real Madrid are not indebted to him for their Champions League progress and claims the club had not reached the semi-finals before his time in charge, as he prepares to face former club Inter Milan on Tuesday.

The match at the Santiago Bernabeu is Real Madrid’s opening fixture in the league phase of this season’s Champions League. Mourinho made clear that a convincing performance would not be enough for him after his side’s first defeat of the campaign.

Asked what he wanted from the game, Mourinho said: “I want to win. I can say that I want us to play well, but we played well against Betis and lost. I want to win.”

Real Madrid’s players were heavily affected by that defeat, but Mourinho said they had recovered quickly and were ready to respond against Inter.

“I saw them as I like to see them,” he said. “They were devastated in the dressing room after the match, then they recovered very well in training yesterday, Sunday, and today everything is completely normal.”

The Portuguese manager added that reviewing the defeat had strengthened his belief that Real Madrid had produced a good performance, despite making mistakes he considered unusual.

“After analysing the match we played, we are becoming more and more convinced that we played a good game,” Mourinho said. “We played against a strong team, and the mistakes we made are unusual for us. We are in good shape. We have some problems in midfield before tomorrow’s match, but we will play and compete.”

Mourinho has a strong personal history at the Santiago Bernabeu. He won the Champions League there with Inter Milan against Bayern Munich, but also suffered a semi-final defeat on penalties while managing Real Madrid against Bayern Munich.

“At the Bernabeu, I won the Champions League, with Inter Milan against Bayern Munich, but I also lost a semi-final on penalties, with Real Madrid against Bayern Munich,” he said. “I experienced the best and worst moments of my life in this stadium.”

The manager refused to say whether Trent Alexander-Arnold could be used in midfield against Inter.

“I will not comment on that,” Mourinho said.

Mourinho was also asked whether he felt he owed Real Madrid a Champions League title after failing to win the competition during his previous spell at the club.

“No,” he replied. “They are two different periods. I finished my work in 2013. We won what we won and lost what we lost. We gave everything we had, and that period ended.”

He insisted that his current challenge should not be judged against the circumstances of his earlier tenure.

“This has nothing to do with the past,” Mourinho said. “We are looking at two different moments in the history of Real Madrid. That is how it is. In 2010, Real Madrid were not reaching the quarter-finals, and they had not played in a Champions League semi-final for many years. Now they have won six Champions League titles. These are completely different periods.”

Mourinho, who previously managed Inter Milan, said he would still be delighted to win the Champions League with Real Madrid, but stressed that ambition belonged to a separate stage of the club’s history.

“If you ask me whether I am motivated to win the Champions League with Real Madrid, then of course I am,” he said. “But that is completely separate from the context of the previous period.”