Anatoliy Trubin’s mother does not watch football but she checks the results. Some time after Benfica’s win over Real Madrid, there it was. Trubin 90+8. “She was thinking maybe she was being stupid or something,” Trubin tells Sky Sports. “It was a funny moment.”
Jose Mourinho is Real Madrid’s top managerial target, and according to multiple sources, the confirmed next managerial appointment.Last night, he guided Benfica to a 3-1 win over Estoril in the leag...
The idea that one day Mourinho might return to the Bernabéu had hung in the air, if not really as a serious possibility. Now the impossible is probableThe last time José Mourinho was at the Santiago Bernabéu, he parked up in the bus. That night in late February the Benfica manager was suspended, a red card from the first leg of the Champions League playoff meaning he wasn’t allowed on the touchline he had prowled 13 years and a lifetime ago, so Real Madrid prepared a media booth for him to watch from. Situated on the eighth floor, Spanish radio to the left of him, Portuguese to the right, Cabin No 6 had been supplied with nuts, fruit, salad and jamón sandwiches. As kick-off approached, a crowd gathered by the door. But if the camera phones were out, he wasn’t.Mourinho never showed. Instead, he stayed in the basement 10 floors below, watching from an iPad on board the bus and leaving the post-match press conference to his assistant, João Tralhão. The next time he comes, which could be as soon as this season ends, it is likely to be different, poised to be welcomed back as a saviour and their manager now, not hidden away. For a while his has been the only candidate’s name that has remained constant and never dismissed from within, seeming more real with every day. Continue reading...
