Jose Mourinho did not hold back after Real Madrid’s hard-fought 3-2 victory over Elche on Tuesday night at the Manuel Martinez Valero. The Portuguese coach accused his players of letting a “dead” opponent back into the match and warned that his team is making life unnecessarily difficult for itself.
Real Madrid appeared to be cruising toward an easy win against the La Liga bottom side, but they conceded twice and needed a late goal to secure all three points in the sixth round of fixtures. The result leaves the club with concerns ahead of Sunday’s derby against Atletico Madrid at the Metropolitano.
Mourinho: We Left Spaces and Gave Elche Life
Speaking to the press after the match, as reported by Marca, Mourinho said: “Three points, that’s all. Of course, after the first half it felt like we would score three, four or five goals in the second half, but we dropped our intensity and gave the opponent too much space.”
He continued: “I tried to give more solidity to the midfield by bringing on Jude Bellingham and Brahim Diaz, but they scored a goal. In stadiums like this, with this atmosphere, a team that looks dead can come back to life.”
“We Can Kill Games But We Don’t”
Mourinho also discussed his late substitutions, explaining: “We have a lot of talent, and we took a big risk. The players felt they couldn’t lose. We played very well in the final minutes.”
He praised his squad’s mentality but pointed out a recurring issue: “The players are united and motivated. There is friendship and commitment. My only criticism is that we can kill off matches and we don’t. We gave a team that looked dead a chance to come back to life.”
Rotation and Fixture Congestion
On the need to rotate amid a busy schedule, Mourinho said: “We made changes. Mbappe and Konate are the only ones who played every minute against Inter, Rayo and Elche.”
He added: “Now we need to rest and then start preparing for Thursday’s match.”
The Problem of Complacency
Mourinho addressed Real Madrid’s tendency to switch off during games: “The problem seems clear to me. There are matches that look finished, but they aren’t.”
He continued: “The only explanation I find is that we consider them easy games and we don’t kill them off. There are matches we don’t close out, and it seems we go from feeling it’s easy to losing control.”
“In stadiums like this, full and with great fans, things become difficult. The good thing is that when it gets tough, the team reacts and wins, and that’s the most important thing.”
He finished with a joke: “And the good thing is that no one gets bored in Real Madrid matches, because they are very entertaining.”
Praise for Carlos Espi
On Carlos Espi, scorer of the late winner, Mourinho said: “He is performing well and is a highly motivated player. Ahead of him is an unusual player (Mbappe), and playing them together is not easy because we don’t have traditional wide players for a 4-4-2.”
He explained: “In the end we risked everything because a draw doesn’t help us.”
Yan Diomande Impresses
Mourinho also praised Yan Diomande: “He is improving. He has a great work rate and intelligence, because it’s not easy to play 85 minutes on a yellow card. He did a great job and I’m happy with him.”
Defensive Concerns
On Real Madrid conceding in every match, Mourinho said: “I love that my team scores goals, but I also love controlling matches. I don’t like giving the opponent chances.”
He added: “We can concede from a situation unrelated to the flow of the game, but today the goals came because we lost control of the play.”
“No Player Is Indispensable”
Mourinho rejected the idea that Arda Guler is indispensable: “No player is indispensable. When I make changes, it’s because we were losing control.”
He explained: “Arda started to drop his intensity because he was playing as a number 10, and that position requires covering the entire pitch.”
A Match with Three Faces
Discussing his midfield performance, Mourinho said: “When the team was good, they were very good. We played out from pressure well and with great quality, but our match has two faces.”
He corrected himself: “Or three faces, to be more precise, because the ending was simply: either we kill the match or we die in it.”