JOSE MOURINHO’S hair may have turned fifty shades of grey but there are no grey areas at all when it comes to discussing Real Madrid.
By ROB BEASLEY
It is simple. The best boss in the world is at the best club in the world and it is not a matter that’s open for debate.
Yes, the Special One accepts that this week’s Champions League clash with Manchester City here in Madrid is a rather special one.
The football equivalent of the brash, nouveau riche up against the old money of the Establishment.
But Mourinho says moneybags City simply cannot compare with the might and glory of the greatest football club on the planet.
The Bernabeu boss declared: “Real Madrid is Real Madrid, it’s the real thing. A club no football result, no cup competition, no coach, no player can ever change.
“Quite simply Real Madrid is a club like no other. It’s incomparable with any other club in the world.
“There is no team anywhere that can be compared with Real Madrid. None.
“Remember I was in Portugal, in England and in Italy before coming here to Madrid, so I know what I am saying. There are great clubs but the pressure and the expectation is the greatest here at Real Madrid.
“It is huge but it is an enjoyable pressure, not a suffocating one.”
A look at Madrid’s awesome 110-year history powerfully reinforces 49-year-old Mourinho’s words.
When the Whites kick off against City in the Bernabeu on Tuesday they will be seeking to become European champions for the TENTH time.
Their current haul of nine is already a record. In stark contrast City will be striving for their first.
It is a similarly one-sided list when it comes to winning the league with Real having amassed an amazing 32 La Liga titles to City’s three.
No wonder Madrid were handed the ‘Best Club of the 20th Century’ award by FIFA.
And no wonder Mourinho quipped: “There are some things that money can’t buy — trophies and history.”
The Portuguese coach also has the edge over rival boss Roberto Mancini, the man he replaced at Inter and went on to win an historic treble in 2010 — the Champions League, Serie A and Italian Cup.
Mourinho has also triumphed in Portugal, England and Spain. He becomes only the fourth man to win four titles in four countries along with Giovanni Trapattoni, Ernst Happel and Tomislav Ivic.
And one of only three bosses to win the Champions League with two different clubs — Happel and Ottmar Hitzfeld the others.Now he is aiming to become “the only one” to win it with a third club and move out on his own — where he loves to be.
He added: “A lot of top managers and clubs have never won a Champions League. So if I have won it twice and Real have won it a record nine times… well we should say ‘Thanks to God’.
“And if a third comes for me and a 10th title comes for Real Madrid this season — amazing.
“We will accept it all with a smile. But there is no pressure on us. There is no obsession to win it here.”
That could be perceived as a veiled dig at City, whose incredible spending in recent years has so far brought FA Cup and Premier League success but which Mourinho feels is ultimately aimed at dominating Europe. He added: “This is a team being created to lift the Champions League, that’s their aim.”
Which is why Mourinho is taking the threat of City very seriously.
He explained: “I went over to see City play because I want my job to be done as close to perfection as possible. I wanted to analyse our opponents not just by video or stats but to see them first hand.
“OK a match against QPR is not a good game to make a direct transfer to a match in the Bernabeu. But it was good enough to see some aspects of the City team.
“And what I do know is they have very good players — and are a powerful side.”
Mourinho only singled out two City stars. He said: “I don’t like to speak about opponents individually but it’s no problem to say that we respect Carlos Tevez a lot.
“I also know Mario Balotelli and the player he is because we were together at Inter for two years and so he certainly has nothing to prove to me.”
And with that he was gone — just like in the book a man in total control, a man who knows exactly what he wants.
But the final chapter will not be written until Tuesday evening when we learn whether sexy City do submit to Mourinho’s insatiable desire for domination.
