Real Madrid and Mourinho set for Liga reunion after Spurs sack?

José Mourinho is on the lookout for another club after being sacked by Tottenham Hotspur on Monday and has fond memories of his time at Real Madrid between 2010 and 2013. In his first season in charge at the Bernabéu, Mourinho delivered the Copa del Rey, a trophy that Real Madrid had not won since 1993. A day after he departed the Premier League club, Mourinho posted a picture on Instagram of Madrid’s players holding him aloft after the victory over Barcelona, a 1-0 win courtesy of a Cristiano Ronaldo goal in extra time.

Tuesday was the 10^th anniversary of that Madrid triumph and Mourinho took the opportunity to remind observers of his previous successes after Florentino Pérez had lavished praise on the Portuguese a day earlier. Speaking on Spanish television, the Real Madrid president said of his former manager: “He raised the level of competitiveness in the three years that he was here. And since 2011 we have reached nine of 11 Champions League semi-finals. I will always be grateful to him for that gene that he implanted in us. Before [Mourinho arrived] we were always getting knocked out in the last 16.”

The Copa del Rey win in 2011 was all the more important as a part of Madrid’s history because Mourinho masterminded victory over Pep Guardiola’s Barcelona at a time when the Camp Nou club were steamrollering everything that got in their way. It also marked the first time in 18 years that Madrid has won the domestic cup competition, a remarkable drought for a club of Los Blancos’ size and resources.

Mourinho went on to win a LaLiga title and the Spanish Super Cup during his three seasons at the Bernabéu and led Madrid to three consecutive Champions League semi-finals. That has left a fond memory in the mind of Pérez, who has often been linked with a move to reinstall Mourinho as manager and could be in the market again this summer with Zinedine Zidane’s future up in the air.