José Mourinho on Real Madrid's Transformation: From Clashes to Unity
José Mourinho insists he has not had to play peacemaker between Aurélien Tchouameni and Federico Valverde, despite the explosive clashes that scarred Real Madrid’s dressing room last season.
The pair were involved in two altercations in May, one so serious it left Valverde in hospital with a head injury. At the time, it felt like the kind of fracture that lingers, the sort that can split a squad into factions.
This season tells a very different story.
From flashpoint to friendship
The summer brought change and, with it, a reset. Tchouameni signed a new contract. Valverde took the captain’s armband after Dani Carvajal’s departure. The hierarchy shifted, and so did the mood.
On the eve of Madrid’s meeting with Rayo Vallecano, Mourinho painted a picture of a squad that has done its own healing.
“Look, I haven't done anything. They've done everything themselves,” he said. “The empathy within the group today, the friendship, the way they work together, the frustration when they go off because nobody wants to be substituted, but still supporting their teammates, the player who comes on in the final minute… the group is fantastic.”
The reconciliation was there for all to see in Madrid’s recent Champions League win over Inter Milan. Tchouameni, making his first appearance of the season after returning from World Cup duty, came off the bench late on to replace Trent Alexander-Arnold. At full time, cameras caught him embracing Valverde. No tension, no edge. Just two key players locked in a hug after another European victory.
Mourinho admitted he had gone into the post-World Cup period ready to intervene if old wounds reopened. He never needed to.
“If I knew nothing, if I walked into the dressing room without knowing anything about the situation, I'd think they were great friends,” he explained. “When they came back from the World Cup, I was obviously paying attention to see whether I needed to act as a peacekeeper, but I didn't have to do anything.”
Mourinho stands firm behind Vinicius
With the midfield storm apparently passed, Mourinho turned his attention to another talking point: Vinicius Jr.
The Brazilian ended a summer of heavy speculation by signing a new long-term contract through 2032 last month. The deal underlined his status as one of the pillars of Madrid’s future, but his start to the campaign has been subdued. One goal in five games across all competitions is a quiet return for a player used to deciding nights on his own.
Mourinho, though, sees the numbers differently. To him, this is not a decline. It is a build-up.
“The best Vinicius is coming soon,” he insisted. “The one from last year, when the Bernabeu was terrified against Benfica and he ended up winning the tie. The Vinicius who won matches single-handedly hasn't arrived yet. But he will.”
In an era where every touch is measured and every sprint logged, the coach leans on the data to back his conviction.
“In an era of data and statistics, he's very close to his top speed,” Mourinho said. “He's broken his records for high-intensity sprints, records for ball recoveries, for ball recoveries in the final third... He's coming.”
The former Chelsea and Manchester United manager bristled at the criticism aimed at the 26-year-old from sections of the Spanish media. For Mourinho, the scrutiny is the price of greatness, not a sign that the player is fading.
Vinicius has already stacked his medal collection high: three La Liga titles, two Champions Leagues, two FIFA Club World Cups, and more on top of that. That kind of résumé changes the way every performance is judged.
To underline his point, Mourinho reached for a saying from home.
“In Portugal there's a proverb, I don't know if it's the same in Spain, ‘you only throw stones at trees that bear fruit,’” he said. “What has Vini done here in recent years? How many Champions Leagues has he won? How many goals has he scored? He's a tree with plenty of fruit. And people throw stones because they want fruit.”
The message is clear. Inside Real Madrid’s dressing room, the fights have cooled, the captain has emerged, and the coach is all-in on his star forward. The question now is not whether the harmony is real, but how far it can carry them.
