Mourinho: My Stance on the Ballon d'Or, Bellingham is One of a Kind

Portuguese manager José Mourinho spoke to the media during the press conference ahead of his team's match against Malaga, part of the third round of the Spanish league, at the Santiago Bernabéu Stadium.

Mourinho stated: "There are players, and I never tire of repeating this, who have gone through different preparation periods. We have a strong squad and solutions to compensate for these issues. I can give you an example, tomorrow Cucurella will start, while Alvaro will remain on the bench, even though he participated and performed well against Espanyol and Real Sociedad. If Cucurella feels a lack of energy, we have Alvaro Carreras ready to come in. This is the kind of solutions that a squad like ours provides to the coach."

He added: "Diomande? I won't say anything more about the players individually. Diomande was one of the last players to arrive and had a tough summer due to the decision. He didn't train with Leipzig, and when he arrived, he didn't have a training foundation with his team, so he is progressing step by step. He has already gotten minutes, and that's what he needs for development. Tomorrow, he will either start or come on as a substitute. He is becoming more ready day by day."

Regarding Mbappé and Vinicius: "It’s about everyone. The key point is quality. It’s immense quality. The second point, which is secondary although still important, is the empathy between two people. There is a lot of empathy, friendship, and cooperation. When you combine personal empathy with immense quality, we have everything to become better over time, for a dynamic that is not two plus nine, but eleven players. This dynamic will make them and everyone better over time. I couldn’t be happier than I am after two weeks of working together."

Discussing the team's routine before matches: "There are two types of focus. The type you mention, being together and sleeping in a hotel or at Valdebebas... But the focus that matters to me is the one that's here, in the head. It has nothing to do with sleeping in a hotel; sometimes I feel sad because you only see warm-ups and short group training sessions. In the other work, there is a lot of focus, and that is what matters to me. Sleeping or not sleeping depends on the circumstances. Today we won't do that. The players are together now, and we have a tactical meeting, we'll eat together, and we'll stay together for a while, and then we'll meet in the morning. Espi, Cucurella, and I will sleep here, while the rest will go back to their homes."

On Bellingham: "He is unique. Very important for the team. He has different talents: physical strength, mental aspect, tactical abilities, ball recovery, his ability to score goals, and aerial play. He is an amazing player, I love talking about Kylian and Vinícius too. I understand these questions, but I am very happy with everyone. As I said before, we have great players here, very great players, and very, very great players."

He stressed the need for the team to work as a unit, saying: "Real Madrid goes to the Santiago Bernabéu to watch these different players, but it will also go to see a team that plays as a team, suffers as a team, faces difficulties as a team, and crushes opponents as a team. I am the coach of this team, and I really love the players I have."

Regarding the Ballon d'Or: "It's a beautiful award on an individual level. It enters the history of a particular player. There are about twelve players at a very high level, and we have three or four of them here. It's natural to have these ambitions; for me, the Ballon d'Or should go to those players who, when they retire, we miss them forever. I miss Maradona, Ronaldo Nazário, Messi, Zidane, Matthäus... You can't give the Ballon d'Or to a player just because he won the Champions League or the World Cup. If you want to honor the Champions League, give the Ballon d'Or to Luis Enrique. And if you want to honor Spain, then De la Fuente definitely deserves it. That's the big honor. As for the best player in the world, that's another matter."

Mourinho stated: "The best player in the world should not be from Paris Saint-Germain or from Spain. There are two, three, or four players, and we know who they are. We know where they are, here. And we know who made history individually this summer; the Ballon d'Or has politics involved, and if politics comes into play, I don't like it very much. You already know my concept of the Ballon d'Or. We won't invent it in Spain or at Paris Saint-Germain. There is Luis Enrique or De la Fuente, but the best player is another player."

In his comments about Thiago Pitarich, Arbeloa stated: "Arbeloa has done a great job with the team, and he has gone through a tough situation. Working with the players has been fantastic; there isn't a player in Castilla that I don't like. Thiago has proven that he is no longer able to play at the Castilla level. I admire him a lot. He has made it into the group of 21 players. We also have Aribas, Sierra, and Sestero, along with two goalkeepers on the bench... Since our number of players isn't large, when he is ready, he will be part of the group and will get minutes. And I tell him that his leg muscles are like mine, and he needs to add a few kilograms through training."