Best is yet to come, insists Mourinho

Real Madrid coach Jose Mourinho has warned the rest of Europe to watch out because he says the best is yet to come from his galacticos.

The Portuguese boss has had a great start to life at the demanding Spanish giants having a 100 percent record in three Champions League games while also sitting pretty at the top of La Liga.

But ahead of Wednesday’s mouth-watering Champions League Group G clash with AC Milan, Mourinho insists his team will get even better.

“For a team like us that’s under construction with a new coach and many new players, we’ve had many good results,” said the former coach of Milan’s city rivals Inter.

“That gives strength and joy to the team and makes us feel better. We’re trying to change the way we play and the way we think and we’re doing very well.

“But what counts is where you are in May. It’s always been the case with my teams that my second year has been where we reach near perfection but that doesn’t mean that we won’t try to achieve something important in my first year here.

“There are six, seven or eight teams who can win the Champions League and we’re amongst them.

“We’re also one of the teams capable of winning the Spanish league but yes you could say that we’re doing better than expected.”

Having coached in Spain and Italy, Mourinho believes that it is actually harder to win where he is now.

“It’s difficult to compare La Liga with Serie A because in Italy all the teams are well prepared tactically and the top teams drop points,” he said.

“The team that wins the league is the one that drops the fewest points but in Spain it’s more difficult because ourselves and Barcelona win almost every game so if you drop even one point, you’re in trouble.

“If we qualify tomorrow then we can’t afford to think that the last two group games don’t matter and that we can look ahead to the second round because at Real you always have to play to win.”

For Mourinho it’s not the first time he has come back to his former home as the former Chelsea and Porto boss has always gone back to his old stomping grounds, even though in this case he will be playing against the other half of the city.

“I will try to feel the affection of the Inter fans (in Milan) but I’m here to play an important match,” he said.

“If they feel they have something to thank me for then I too have to thank them because I had some great years here.

“I hope to face Inter here in the future so I can thank all their fans for what they gave me.

“Tomorrow the San Siro will be full of Milan fans not Inter fans and I doubt they want to thank me.

“I’ve gone back to Porto and Chelsea and now I’m back at the San Siro but I have to isolate those emotions.

“Real have never won here because there’s a lot of pressure, it’s difficult to win here, their fans give them a lot of support and they’re a great team.

“But Milan will also be concerned because they know they might not win. But it will be a great game and it’s the one that everyone wants to see and everyone will be glued to their TV screens to watch this game.”

Madrid have never won in this stadium against either Milan or Inter, losing five times to each and coming home with only three draws from 13 encounters.

But the players believe that having Mourinho at the helm can actually help them, particularly given how he takes the attention away from them.

While the press conference room in Milan was packed to the rafters for Mourinho it was more than half empty by the time Sergio Ramos came to speak.

“It’s true that it’s not the same but maybe that’s better for us to have a coach who has a media frenzy around him,” said Ramos.

“For me and (Real captain) Iker (Casillas) it’s better because we can stay calmer.”