Mourinho: Kane winning the Ballon d'Or made me happy, and the Real Madrid star's ranking left me stunned
Will these words anger Mbappé?
José Mourinho has underlined his respect for Racing, warning of a tricky test when Real Madrid visit tomorrow, Sunday, in matchday 11 of La Liga.
Speaking at his pre-match press conference, Mourinho said: "We are in good shape, we are working well, and we have prepared well for this clash. In the five matches since Racing's promotion to the first division, the team has played five matches at El Sardinero, in which they achieved three wins and two draws, and they are producing good performances."
He added: "The match will be played on Sunday afternoon, a timing we are no longer used to. It will be a difficult clash, and the latest win carries great importance if we can achieve a new victory, but if we do not do that, it will not have the same meaning."
Racing earned his praise too. "Racing must be respected, as they are a team with a very specific style, and they will play the match with the ambition of securing a win, in line with the approach adopted by their coach. The opponent will not surprise us, as we are aware of how difficult the clash is."
Turning to the Ballon d'Or result, the Real Madrid manager added: "I had the privilege of working with Harry Kane, he is a wonderful player, an exceptional professional and a wonderful person. And of course, despite my feeling of frustration that my player did not win the award, I must be honest and say that I am very happy for Harry, because he is a player and a person who deserves this joy, at his current age, which I do not know whether it is 31 or 32 years. He deserves this happy moment, which represents a crowning of his career."
His verdict on Kylian Mbappé went further. "On the other hand, I think Kylian is Kylian, he is a one-of-a-kind player. If we are going to award the Ballon d'Or every season, that is fine, as some players have won it more than once, such as Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo, Ronaldo Nazário and Platini, and there are other players who have repeated winning it, but we award the Ballon d'Or every year, whereas there is only one player who is the best in the history of the World Cup. It is something entirely unique, and Kylian is a one-of-a-kind player."
One result stunned him. "As for the voting, the thing that stunned me most and left me almost unable to speak is Jude Bellingham finishing in eleventh place. No comment, we end the discussion here."
Mourinho was asked about the mood within the squad after the Clásico. "No, I did not notice any change. Since the beginning of our work, and even when we were achieving wins and then suffered defeats later, I always noticed that the faces change of course according to the results, but the empathy, respect and desire to work remained the same, as did the balance in dealing with wins and defeats."
Youth is no barrier, in his view. "In this respect, we are not a team that enjoys great maturity thanks to the presence of players with enormous experience, as we are a young team in general, but I have seen people who possess a great deal of maturity, whether in dealing calmly with difficult times or even during moments of glory."
He pointed to the aftermath of the win. "We celebrated in Barcelona, but after that we returned to the bus and then the plane, and we got a day of rest, and then we resumed training normally, while maintaining the same focus and motivation. And when we started preparing for this match, I sensed the seriousness in the work, and this maturity pleases me greatly."
He signed off with the bigger picture. "As I said in the Barcelona press conference, our goal this season is not to win a match against Barcelona, but to win the title, and we are trying to walk this path."
