Real Madrid / Mourinho: "I couldn't teach Cristiano how to score a goal"

The documentary looks back at the demanding nature of the Portuguese coach during his first stint at the Bernabéu, where he had to manage a dressing room full of stars.

The documentary about Mourinho offers a glimpse into the past and an opportunity to remember what the Portuguese coach was like during his first stint at Real Madrid. A coach who arrived in a dressing room brimming with stars like Cristiano Ronaldo, Sergio Ramos, Marcelo, and Xabi Alonso.

The Portuguese coach arrived in Madrid with a very clear idea: he didn't have to teach them how to play football, but rather how to play as a team. "At Real Madrid, I had virtually nothing to teach them. I couldn't teach Sergio Ramos how to head the ball. I couldn't teach Cristiano how to score a goal," Mourinho explains in the documentary. His job lay elsewhere: in the details, in the tactics, and above all, in ensuring that everyone understood football in the same way.

Marcelo remembers this demanding approach and how training sessions were entirely focused on what would happen in the match. "He explained everything to us, down to the smallest detail. And in the end, when we arrived at the match after training, everything was exactly as he had described it," says the former Brazilian full-back.

Mourinho, during his first stint, faced off against Özil, Kaká, Marcelo, Cristiano or Benzema, during a training session

A methodology which, according to Khedira, required players to follow the coach's instructions to the letter: "You are like his brain on the field and you have to follow him 100%. Otherwise... he will kill you," confides the current assistant coach of the white team.

And Mourinho summed up the situation with one of his most famous quotes: "If they think like me, life will be easier for them," he said. This same Mourinho returns to Real Madrid today for a new chapter. The context has changed, but the demands remain extremely high. A new generation of stars, a new dressing room, and a new opportunity to demonstrate his greatest strength: making a group of great players function as a single team.