Mourinho: Real Madrid playing in this competition because I'm professional

Real Madrid will face its former manager José Mourinho on Wednesday morning in Miami. After a comfortable win over Milan at the Met Life Stadium, Mourinho gave a humorous analysis of the final of the International Champions Cup against Real.

"Real Madrid is playing in this competition because I organised it and because I'm a professional. I did it even though I knew I wouldn't be doing the preseason with them and we knew there was a good chance that we would face each other in the final. It's very good for us; for them, I don't know," he remarked.

"We're playing against a very special team with very special players in a competition that we're not obsessed with winning. I'll make changes and play a different team in each half. There's no pressure or obsession to come away with a result," he acknowledged.

Mourinho does not believe that the game has any special significance for him. "You always want to play against the best teams. The aim is to improve so that we start the official competition in the best form possible. We've taken two victims in Italian football, first Inter and then AC Milan, and now we're playing against Real. It's fantastic. It's really good, especially for our young players – and we have lots of them – who are not used to playing with big crowds, stadiums and opponents. Especially for them, playing against Real Madrid is the best thing that could happen."


/Marca/