MADRID.- The coach of Real Madrid, Jose Mourinhoconsidered this Tuesday that no player is “untouchable”, but always pays attention to each player’s performance.
“The only untouchable thing is the shield” of Real Madrid, stated ‘Mou’ in the press conference prior to the match. Champions League against him Leipzig.
Mourinho expressed himself like this when asked if the position of Vinicius could be threatened by the young Ivorian Yan Diomandewhen the Brazilian returns to play after his four-game suspension in LaLiga.
“I don’t like this concept of an untouchable player. What makes players untouchable is not their status, it is not the armband, it is not how many years they have been at the club, it is not how much they have been paid for them,” said Mourinho.
“What makes a player untouchable is his performance on the field,” added the Portuguese coach, who also confirmed that Vinicius will play against Leipzig on Wednesday in the Santiago Bernabéu.
The Brazilian is limited to playing European matches until he completes his four-game suspension in the domestic championship.
Without him, Diomande started and shone on Sunday in the 4-1 win over Seville.
Mourinho did not want to say whether the Ivorian will play on Wednesday against his former team, which he left last summer for the Merengue club.
“Everyone knows that Vinicius is a left winger. I can sometimes put him in another position, but basically he is a left winger and that is the only thing I can confirm,” he added.
Much to do
Mourinho admitted that there is “a lot of work to do” to be where he would like, but recalled that he is not “a stubborn coach” and that he is open to new ideas.
The Real Madrid coach also avoided talking about favoritism to win the Champions League.
“It’s very early. At this moment, the objective is not to win the Champions League, the objective is to qualify” for the knockout phase, finishing among the top eight and thus avoiding the play-off to access the round of 16, Mourinho stated.
A third victory in three Champions League games would also be an injection of morale ahead of the league classic against Barcelona Sunday.
“From my experience, the important thing is to focus on the next game, because if we win tomorrow that helps us for the weekend’s game,” said the merengue defender. Ibrahima Konaté.
