How Jose Mourinho's Real Madrid Love Affair Ended With Ronaldo, Benzema, Casillas Insults
Looking back only at the statistics 13 years removed, José Mourinho's time as Real Madrid manager could easily be determined a success.
The Portuguese won two major honors in three seasons, beat Pep Guardiola's Barcelona to the title with a 100-point season and left with a win record north of 70%.
"I'm one of the few coaches to leave Real Madrid without being fired," Mourinho noted to the press before meeting his old team in the Champions League this season. He did, officially, leave by mutual consent.
For a club as nostalgic as Real Madrid, the idea of re-appointing the "Special One" this summer is gaining traction, as a summer of change beckons, with even Kylian Mbappé seemingly onboard. But the bare stats don't tell the whole story of Mourinho in Madrid. Not by a long way.
Mourinho's fall at the Bernabéu was a spectacular one riddled with high-profile controversies. It's a story that might serve as a warning to Florentino Pérez when considering to take another trip down Nostalgia Lane this summer.
What Went Wrong for Mourinho at Real Madrid?
The end for Mourinho at Real Madrid was signaled on April 30, 2013, as his team was eliminated from the Champions League at the semifinal stage for the third season in a row.
A valiant 2–0 win over Jürgen Klopp's Borussia Dortmund at the Bernabéu in the second leg was not enough to overturn the deficit established a week before in Germany by Robert Lewandowksi's blistering four-goal masterclass.
In 2011, it had been Pep Guardiola's Barcelona who had got the better of Mourinho's Madrid. In 2012, it was the heartbreak of a penalty shootout defeat to Bayern Munich. Now in 2013, it was Klopp's new brand of pumping "heavy metal" soccer.
The two-time Champions League winner-the competition specialist-had been unable to bring La Décima to Madrid. For many, it was the final straw in an already strained relationship.
Never one to hide his emotions, Mourinho told U.K. broadcaster ITV directly after the game that he was unsure if he could remain in the Spanish capital beyond the end of the season, amid talk of a Chelsea return.
"I am loved by some clubs, especially one," he said. "In Spain it is different, some people hate me, many of you in this [press] room."
Early Success and Clashes
It was clear that Mourinho's time at Madrid was coming to an end after three seasons, continuing a pattern that had been set at Chelsea-one of early highs, before a hard fall.
Mourinho had led Madrid to a Copa del Rey title in his first year, followed by a spectacular La Liga win in his second-gaining 100 points to outperform Pep Guardiola's Barcelona. It remains the club's best domestic season in terms of both points and goals scored. However, the warning signs were there, despite the success.
Mourinho had helped push the Clásico rivalry with Barça to new levels of bitterness and enmity, while some fans (and players) were left feeling disturbed and alienated by the manager's frequently uncouth, un-Madrid values.
Madrid director and club legend Emilio Butragueño defended the manager, saying: "We didn't sign Mourinho to make friends, but to win trophies." However, that idea was pushed to the limit during the 2011 Spanish Super Cup. After poking then Barcelona assistant manager Tito Vilanova in the eye during an infamous touchline brawl, Mourinho refused to apologize for his actions, with reports claiming the Portuguese even considered resigning over a perceived lack of support from the Madrid leadership following the incident.
While some supporter groups remained fiercely loyal to the end, Mourinho was frequently whistled at in the Bernabéu. Meanwhile, the notoriously aggressive Spanish media kept an intense level of pressure on Mourinho throughout his tenure and he was only too happy to fight back.
Rifts With Ronaldo, Benzema and More
Ugly clashes with journalists and complaints about refereeing bias punctuated his time in Spain, as well as bust-ups with Real Madrid's biggest stars.
"If you go hunting with a dog, you catch more than if you go hunting with a cat," Mourinho once said in a memorable attack on a then 22-year-old Karim Benzema.
Of Cristiano Ronaldo, Mourinho told reporters: "Maybe thinks that he knows everything and that the coach cannot improve him anymore."
Though not a direct response to that quote, in the final weeks of Mourinho's tenure Ronaldo was apparently spotted shouting "f--- you" in Portuguese at the manager as he celebrated his 200th goal for the club.
Meanwhile, Sergio Ramos once visibly wore an Özil 10 shirt underneath his own in a game against Deportivo La Coruña in support of his teammate-a frequent subject of Mourinho's outbursts.
However, it was Iker Casillas who was perhaps the biggest target during Mourinho's reign. The keeper-one of Madrid's sacred cows-was dropped by Mourinho and replaced by backup Diego López, supposedly for getting complacent and letting his standards drop. There is much speculation that the rift went far beyond on-field performances.
Final Days
Throughout the 2012–13 season, despite entering the campaign as defending champions, Madrid simply could not keep up with Barcelona, and tolerance for Mourinho's abrasive ways rapidly diminished.
Undoubtedly an incredible man manager with the charisma to form a cult of leadership, the latter stages of Mourinho's Madrid era became him vs. the world.
Though Los Blancos went on to finish the domestic season with a 16-match unbeaten run in La Liga, the spark had long gone. Morale had plummeted. Feuds were out in the open and Madrid finished 15 points behind a Lionel Messi-led Barcelona, and eliminated from Europe at the final four again.
If there was any small chance that Mourinho might stay on to honor the contract extension that was meant to keep him at Madrid until 2016, the Copa del Rey final extinguished it emphatically.
Both Mourinho and Ronaldo were sent off in a bad-tempered clash with Atlético Madrid that ended in a 2–1 defeat after extra-time.
Atlético fans chanted "Mourinho stay" ironically from the stands as the result marked the manager's first season without a major trophy in Madrid.
"This is the worst season of my life," Mourinho said afterwards. "A Super Cup, a semifinal, a runner-up. For many coaches that would be a good year. For me it is the worst."
Two days later, Pérez announced that the club and Mourinho had "decided to bring our relationship to an end."
Mourinho returned to Chelsea soon after, where he won the Premier League title in 2014–15. However, that remains his only league success to date in the 13 years since leaving Madrid. The pattern of rifts and controversies has only continued.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as How Jose Mourinho's Real Madrid Love Affair Ended With Ronaldo, Benzema, Casillas Insults.
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This story was originally published April 29, 2026 at 6:00 PM.