Mourinho refuses to reveal Diomande decision before Villarreal test

Jose Mourinho says he will not disclose whether Diomande will start for Real Madrid against Villarreal on Saturday, insisting he will not lie about his team selection.

Real Madrid face Villarreal in the eighth round of the Spanish league with Mourinho warning that their opponents are stronger than their current position suggests.

“Villarreal are a high-level team and play good football,” Mourinho said at his press conference, as reported by AS. “They do not currently have the number of points they deserve, but they will finish the season in a better position.”

Real Madrid need a response after losing their previous match, although Mourinho admitted preparations had been complicated by the international break.

“After the last defeat, we need to collect points,” he said. “But preparing for Villarreal has not been easy because of the international break.”

The manager was asked whether Diomande could start alongside Kylian Mbappe and Vinicius Junior, but declined to provide any details about his line-up.

“Will Diomande start? Can he play alongside Mbappe and Vinicius? I will not answer whether he will play or not,” Mourinho said. “I am not a liar, and I will not tell you who will play.”

Mourinho said Real Madrid had enough quality in attack to select any of their forwards, but warned that the entire group could not be used at the same time without affecting the team’s balance.

“Real Madrid can play with any of the players in our forward line,” he said. “We have a large number of players with very high quality, but they cannot all play together.”

He added: “If you want to play four forwards, you can do that. We played with six attacking players during the final minutes against Elche, but we cannot play with seven attacking players at the same time if we want to maintain balance.”

Mourinho also played down the prospect of major tactical changes during the early stage of his tenure. He said the team had already identified both positive aspects and areas that required improvement, but that any adjustments would take time.

“Do you expect changes or different roles for some players?” he said. “During this first phase, we have discovered many good things, as well as things that need improvement. But that does not mean we need to make radical changes. That requires work and time.”

He rejected the idea of making sweeping alterations immediately after arriving at the club.

“I cannot come here and, after only a day or two, say we will start playing with five defenders and four midfielders, and change the full-back’s position,” Mourinho said. “You cannot do that in this way.”

The Portuguese manager acknowledged that Real Madrid were going through a complicated period, with the club’s stature making ordinary difficulties appear more serious.

“Real Madrid are going through a slightly complicated period,” he said. “At Real Madrid, things that would be considered normal at other clubs become major issues.”

He added that the club’s record of success had contributed to those heightened expectations.

“Real Madrid bear part of the responsibility for that, because they have won so many matches during the past 10 years, and before that as well,” Mourinho said. “As a result, everything takes on a different scale.”