"If I had been in the stands, I would have applauded too." That was José Mourinho's response after Gianluca Prestianni received a six-match ban for directing a homophobic slur at Vinicius Jr. during Benfica's Champions League tie against Real Madrid. It was a statement that drew condemnation across Europe. And the man who said it is now set to become Vinicius's manager.
Real Madrid has made its call. Mourinho is returning to the Bernabéu, over a decade after leaving under a cloud of dressing room tension, public feuds, and a relationship with the squad that had completely broken down. Florentino Pérez is backing him again — the logic, reportedly, being the Ancelotti precedent: a coach who returned from a spell away from the elite and delivered two more Champions League titles.
The comparison is flattering to Mourinho. Ancelotti is the most diplomatically gifted manager of his generation. Mourinho is the opposite — high-intensity, confrontational, and capable of fracturing a squad if the chemistry turns.
No ghosts from 2013 — but the Vinicius situation is live
The good news for Mourinho is that the players he fell out with last time are gone. Casillas, Ramos, Pepe, Özil, even Ronaldo — all of whom had serious run-ins with him during the 2011-13 period — are long since departed. The last remnants of that era left recently: Nacho to Saudi Arabia in 2024, Modrić to Milan in 2025. There's no unfinished business with the current dressing room.
He also arrives with some existing relationships. Courtois played under him at Chelsea. Dean Huijsen had a brief stint at Roma before Mourinho was dismissed. These aren't deep bonds, but they're something.
The Carvajal issue — once a potential flashpoint, given that Mourinho never gave the right-back his first-team debut during the 2011-12 season, effectively forcing his move to Bayer Leverkusen — has been resolved by circumstance. Carvajal is leaving without renewing his contract. That particular awkwardness disappears before Mourinho even walks through the door.
What doesn't disappear is Vinicius.
The Brazilian is not just Real Madrid's best player — he's built his public identity around the fight against racism in football. The Prestianni incident, and Mourinho's response to it, wasn't a minor pre-season sideshow. UEFA found no evidence of racial abuse but did confirm the homophobic slur. Mourinho's reaction was to question why Vinicius celebrated the way he did, suggest the Brazilian was being provocative, and then — after the ban was confirmed — double down entirely.
Getting that relationship functional will be the first real test of whether this appointment works. A disengaged Vinicius affects everything: Real Madrid's attack, their Champions League chances, and their ability to keep him at the club long-term. The odds on Los Blancos winning in Europe get considerably shorter if their main man and their new manager are barely on speaking terms by October.
The Mourinho who's coming back isn't the same one who left
There's a version of this story where the clean-slate argument holds. No old enemies, a squad that doesn't know his worst tendencies firsthand, and a coach who — whatever you think of him — still knows how to set up a team to be hard to beat. That has value in the knockout rounds of a competition where margins decide everything.
But Mourinho at Benfica is not Mourinho at Inter or Chelsea. His last three appointments — Tottenham, Roma, and now Benfica — trace a declining arc. The elite clubs stopped calling. Real Madrid is giving him a ladder back up, and that matters. Motivated Mourinho, with something to prove at the highest level, is a different proposition than the version grinding through the Portuguese league.
Whether the current Real Madrid squad has the profile to absorb his style — or whether the first sign of internal conflict sends it sideways — is the question that will define this appointment. The squad is younger and less politically entrenched than the one that eventually turned on him in 2013. That might make the difference.
Or the first press conference after a bad result will remind everyone exactly why this is a risk.
