Category: News

The 44-year-old has voiced his opinion that the Santiago Bernabeu side should not be worried about facing their arch-rivals following this campaign’s results

Predrag Mijatovic feels Real Madrid have no reason to fear Barcelona as they have shown this season that they are on the same level as the Catalans.

Both sides have already met six times this term, with the Blancos coming out victorious on three occasions, the Blaugrana winning once, and the remaining two encounters ending all square, and Mijatovic believes Madrid have nothing to worry about if they were to meet each other again in the Champions League.

“Recently we can say that we’ve established some good statistics against Barcelona,” the former Madrid attacker told Marca.

“They are still a very strong team, a big team and it’s not easy to play against them. However, during the recent Clasicos, Madrid have shown that it can win and play against them without worrying about it.”

Mijatovic then went on to discuss the situation of Jose Mourinho and Cristiano Ronaldo, who have both been linked with a move away from the Santiago Bernabeu side.

He added: “Both have many more years on their respective contracts. As a Madrid supporter, I’d love to see them here for a long time to come, but that’s a decision for them, along with the club.”

It had been reported that the Portuguese had agreed to leave Real Madrid in the summer but the 50-year-old has denied such claims

Real Madrid boss Jose Mourinho has moved to deny reports that he has agreed a deal to leave the club in the summer.

The 50-year-old has long been linked with a Santiago Bernabeu exit amid rumours of a rift with captain Iker Casillas and vice-skipper Sergio Ramos.

And while the former Inter coach has admitted that it is hard to be Portuguese in Spain, he was quick to emphasise that he has no plan to leave at the season’s end.

“That’s nonsense,” he told RTP1.

“I have agreed or signing nothing to leave Real Madrid. The group at Real Madrid are as good as any other that I have had.

“I don’t read the Spanish press, I don’t watch Spanish television. It’s hard to be Portuguese in Spain. Nothing affects me, nothing disturbs me, nothing motivates more than my own drive.

“I never felt that being Portuguese was either positive or negative in England or Italy.”

Madrid face Galatasaray in the quarter-finals of the Champions League, and while Mourinho feels there is plenty of competition in Europe this season, he believes his side can claim the trophy.

“We can win the Champions League,” he added. “There are at least five candidates to win the Champions League.”

The former Porto boss went on to discuss the life of a coach, and while he is happy about how his career so far, he admitted there are draw backs to the job.

“You can be the best coach in the world at some point, but that doesn’t make a career. My career is long and I’ve had success.

“I wasn’t at home for my son’s birthday. I had a game in Granada. There are some moments you miss. If I wasn’t a coach, I would be a teacher. I’m a good husband, a good son, a good friend, a good father.”

Mourinho’s rivalry with Barcelona goes back to his days at Chelsea, and while he feels his record against the Blaugrana has improved of late, his sides were hindered by the number of red cards they received.

“With Chelsea, Inter and Real Madrid we played against Barcelona several times with 10 men. Barcelona have doubts about us now that they did not have two years ago.”

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The Blancos coach believes that his Portuguese did more to merit the award than eventual winner Lionel Messi

Real Madrid boss Jose Mourinho believes that Cristiano Ronaldo deserved to win the 2012 Ballon d’Or earlier this year ahead of Lionel Messi.

The Barcelona star picked up the award for the fourth straight year, but the former Inter boss feels that his charge’s exploits in La Liga should have seen him pip his rival.

“Cristiano should have won the award to the best player in the world,” he told RTP1.

“He was champion in La Liga, he was decisive in the league with all the records.”

Messi broke Gerd Muller’s 40-year strong record of 85 goals for club and country in a calendar year to win the award, but only won the Copa del Rey as Barca surrendered their Spanish and European crowns.

Ronaldo, meanwhile, scored 46 goals in 38 Liga appearances as Madrid became the first team to record a tally of 100 points, netting a record 121 times in the process.

The winger defended his Roja coach after the Real Madrid boss’ criticism of the Fifa Coach of the Year voting process

Spain winger Jesus Navas has defended head coach Vicente del Bosque after Real Madrid boss Jose Mourinho called his Fifa Coach of the Year award into question.

The 62-year-old saw off competition from Pep Guardiola and the Portuguese to claim the accolade in January, only for the latter to criticise the voting process.

However, the Sevilla man is delighted with the impact Del Bosque has had on the national team.

“Del Bosque has given us all titles and we are very happy,” he told reporters.

“We have to think about football and what lies ahead. And nothing more.”

Spain have crunch World Cup qualifiers with both Georgia and France on the horizon, and Navas has called for focus against the Nordic nation, and is looking forward to seeing captain Iker Casillas recover from injury.

“There is a very important game against Finland to be won before thinking of France,” Navas continued.

“We know that Casillas will be back in the team. The most important thing is for him to recover as he is very important for all of us.

“We have to be focused on these two games though, but we wish him a speedy recovery.”