Mourinho expects Atletico Madrid to challenge for La Liga title before derby

Jose Mourinho says he is not pessimistic about Real Madrid’s chances in Sunday’s Madrid derby and believes Diego Simeone’s Atletico Madrid squad has the quality to compete for the La Liga title.

Real Madrid face Atletico Madrid at the Metropolitano in the seventh round of the league season, but Mourinho rejected comparisons between the two teams’ line-ups.

“I do not want to compare myself with Atletico Madrid’s squad,” he said. “Oblak against Courtois, Romero against Rudiger – I do not want to go down that path.”

He added: “Atletico have a strong squad with many solutions. Diego Simeone is also a great coach, and he has players who represent his personality and possess the DNA of his team. He has worked with them for many years. I look at them and think they will be there competing for the title.”

Asked about last season’s defeat, Mourinho said: “I am not pessimistic. I do not want to think about things from either a positive or negative perspective. As a journalist, you ask questions for good and for bad. I only answer from the positive side.”

Mourinho said he believed he had given everything in his role at Real Madrid, while stressing that his responsibilities extended beyond coaching matches.

“My assessment of myself is that I have given everything I have. I cannot give more,” he said. “That does not mean I should not continue giving everything I have at every level. In my case, it is not always about training and playing matches. It is broader than that – building a club, rather than simply training or choosing who plays.”

‘Simeone knows what I feel and think’

Mourinho also discussed his relationship with Simeone, recalling that both men had made comments they might later regret during their careers.

“As for Simeone’s opinion, many silly things are said throughout your career,” he said. “If you look back, you will not find one of us who has not said silly things.”

He was referring to a comment he made during a Champions League meeting with Simeone several years ago.

“In the end, either you respect someone or you do not,” Mourinho added. “When they contacted me to ask whether I could talk about Simeone in his documentary, I did not think about it for a single minute. He knows what I feel and what I think. We are competitors again, but we are comrades in battle.”

Mourinho said he had not influenced Zinedine Zidane’s decision not to select Aurelien Tchouameni.

“I had no influence on Zidane’s decision,” he said. “I was slightly surprised by the situation. The two of them spoke together and concluded that the best thing for Aurelien was to have time to complete the pre-season period he had missed.”

The manager said the club could only adapt to the international break, with the team facing different return dates before the match against Villarreal.

“If we have four players remaining for 20 days, one will then arrive three days before the match and another four days before it,” he said.

Mourinho added that El Clasico and the derby were part of football culture and history, but insisted his motivation did not depend on the occasion.

“The motivation is there every day,” he said. “I have always tried to adapt to the qualities of my players.”

He cited his former Inter Milan side as an example of a team capable of defending in a low block for long periods, and said Real Madrid must be prepared for similar phases.

“We need to understand that we will go through such moments,” Mourinho said. “We must know how to position ourselves and compete during them.”