'The worst season of my career'

A King’s Cup final defeat against Atletico Madrid capped the worst season of Real Madrid manager Jose Mourinho’s career, the Portuguese said on Friday after the 2-1 loss left him without a major title this season. 

Widely expected to move on at the end of the campaign and linked with a return to Chelsea, a grim-faced Mourinho gave little away about his future but said Real, the world’s richest club by income, had suffered a “disastrous” season, with only a Spanish Super Cup added to the trophy cabinet. 

The extra-time defeat to city rivals Atletico, all the more painful as it came at Real’s Bernabeu stadium and included the dismissal of Mourinho from the bench in the second half, followed defeat to Borussia Dortmund in the semi-finals of the Champions League. They also failed to defend their La Liga crown, with Barcelona wrapping up a fourth title in five years last weekend. 

“My career has been over many years not just one year,” Mourinho told a post-match news conference, adding that Atletico had not deserved to win the final. “This is the worst season of my career with a title which is not sufficient for me or for a club like Real Madrid,” the Portuguese said. 

“That means it’s a bad season, with a final, a semifinal and a second place and a Super Cup.”

Mourinho defended his record since joining Real from Inter Milan in 2010, noting Real had beaten Barcelona, who he described as ‘the best team in the world’, to win the King's Cup in his first season. 

In typically combative style, Mourinho went on to remind reporters that Real had set a record points total in winning La Liga the following season and had reached the Champions League semifinals three times on the trot. 

“The third season with these results has been a failed season, it's a disastrous season,” he said. “What would be a good season for a lot of coaches but for me is the worst. “As I have said before when things go well it's the merit of everybody and when things go badly it's the coach's fault.”