´It´s a closed chapter´ – Mourinho shuts down Real Madrid rumours

Jose Mourinho quickly shut down any possibility of becoming head coach at Real Madrid again, amid the growing pressure on Xabi Alonso.

The Portuguese coach, who is currently in charge of Benfica, spent three years at the helm in Madrid between 2010 and 2013.

Mourinho boasted a 76.3% win percentage in LaLiga, with his Los Blancos side emerging victorious in 87 of their 114 league matches under his guidance (D16 L11) and scoring 326 goals across those games.

He won the league title in the 2011-12 season, while also lifting the 2011 Copa del Rey and 2012 Supercopa de Espana.

Mourinho signed the likes of Luka Modric, Mesut Ozil and Angel Di Maria during his time in the Spanish Capital, while also bringing in Chelsea duo Ricardo Carvalho and Michael Essien.

Ahead of Benfica’s Champions League clash against Napoli, Mourinho was asked whether he would be interested if he was asked to take over in Madrid, to which he replied: “It’s a closed chapter; you’re the one who opened it.”

#UCL nights are back. pic.twitter.com/m6CPmIk96n

— SL Benfica (@slbenfica_en) December 9, 2025

Benfica have won just three points from their five Champions League games so far, leaving them 30th in the league phase and putting more value on their match against Napoli.

Mourinho picked up his first Champions League win for the club last time out (2-0 v Ajax). The last time he won consecutive games in the competition as a manager was in November 2018 with Manchester United (2-1 v Juventus, 1-0 v Young Boys).

This will be the eighth meeting between Mourinho and Antonio Conte as opposing managers, and the first since meeting in the 2018 FA Cup final (won 1-0 by Conte’s Chelsea v Man Utd). Conte has won four of the previous seven, with two wins for Mourinho (D1).

“I treat every match as a final, I don’t know if that’s a good or a bad thing,” Mourinho added.

“But in 25 years, I haven’t changed anything, and I’m not going to change. Napoli is a very strong team, now even stronger because they play in their coach’s style, even stronger.””