Old ally Jose Mourinho between Real Madrid and Champions League last 16

LISBON – Real Madrid are aiming to seal direct passage to the Champions League last 16 at Benfica on Jan 28, but standing in their way is their divisive former coach Jose Mourinho.

The veteran Portuguese still has slim hopes of taking Benfica into the play-off round, needing victory and other results to go their way.

But pride alone is enough reward as he takes on Alvaro Arbeloa’s 15-time European champions.

Mourinho never won the Champions League with Real, coaching the club between 2010 and 2013, a period when rivals Barcelona had the upper hand both at home and on the continent.

His opposite number at the Estadio da Luz is his former disciple in ex-Real defender Arbeloa, one of his most loyal foot soldiers during his reign.

However, their strong earlier relationship has not stopped the oft-antagonistic Mourinho from taking an apparent dig at him ahead of the match.

“For me, it’s a surprise when coaches with no history get the opportunity to manage the most important clubs in the world,” said Mourinho, interpreted as commentary on Arbeloa’s appointment to replace Xabi Alonso earlier in January.

Arbeloa had been coaching Real’s reserve team, with Los Blancos his maiden first-team job. He responded with grace to Mourinho’s words.

“You all know what Mourinho means to me. If a coach like that speaks, especially him, I listen and analyse it,” said the 43-year-old Spaniard.

In his first press conference as Real coach, Arbeloa said he carries Mourinho “within him” and that it was an “honour and a privilege” to have worked under the Portuguese.

But he also said he would try to be himself, rather than an imitation of the 63-year-old.

“While it’s true I am not afraid of failing, and have never been, I’m sure that if I tried to be Jose Mourinho, I would fail spectacularly,” he explained.

Real crashed out of the Copa del Rey at second-tier Albacete in Arbeloa’s first match at the helm, but have won the following three games, including a 6-1 demolition of Monaco.

Sitting third in the league phase table, victory would likely ensure they progress to the last 16, avoiding the play-off round, and gaining second-leg home advantage.

Real moved on after Mourinho but some of his hallmarks have returned, particularly in recent years as the club regularly rail against officiating in Spain.

Mourinho’s siege mentality has been embraced by club president Florentino Perez, and Arbeloa’s appointment means some aspects of the Portuguese’s game returning too.

The now-Benfica boss advocated for a counter-attacking Real and Arbeloa says he would be foolish not to utilise that strategy.

“I cannot go against what is natural for the players, the opposite – I have to try and take advantage of it,” said Arbeloa after Real beat Villarreal 2-0 on Jan 24.

Mourinho, a rare coach admired by Perez, has faced Real just once since leaving the club in 2013.

While managing Manchester United in 2017, the Portuguese fell to a 2-1 defeat by Real in the European Super Cup.

In the first few years after leaving Real, he was occasionally linked with a return, although Perez never pulled the trigger on it, seemingly aware of the negative effects it could have.

Mourinho stoked the rivalry between Real and Barcelona to unprecedented heights in the modern game, controversially poking then Barca assistant Tito Vilanova in the eye during a brawl following a Spanish Super Cup defeat in 2011.

There were also fractures in the Real dressing room under the pressure of his approach and demands.

Since his heyday at Porto, Chelsea and Inter Milan, which led him to Real, Mourinho’s career has taken a turn for the worse.

He won the Europa League with Manchester United in 2017 during a difficult spell there, before modest stints at Tottenham Hotspur, AS Roma and Fenerbahce.

Benfica appointed him in September, hoping he could turn things around, but several defeats in the Champions League have left them facing an early exit.

Domestically Benfica sit third, 10 points behind leaders Porto, who knocked them out of the Portuguese Cup earlier in January, with fans left furious.

Amid Mourinho’s problems, Real’s visit to Lisbon is an invitation for him to reassert some dominance, albeit for one night only, before a club who have never forgotten him. AFP