Jose Mourinho has returned to Real Madrid 13 years after his departure, tasked with restoring a club that has gone two consecutive seasons without a trophy. During his first spell at the club, Mourinho won La Liga, the Copa del Rey and the Spanish Super Cup, and led the team to three successive Champions League semi-finals.
Spanish football expert Eduardo Alvarez said club president Florentino Perez was likely inspired by Carlo Ancelotti's successful second spell at Madrid. "I think he's betting on a second stint with Mourinho because Ancelotti was successful during his and it's a very similar case," Alvarez told BBC Sport, noting that Ancelotti was 60 years old and coaching Everton when he returned to win the Champions League.
Former Real Madrid president Ramon Calderon welcomed the appointment but cautioned that Mourinho would need to change his approach. Calderon, who led the club from 2006 to 2009, said Mourinho had shown excessive self-promotion during his first spell, blaming others for defeats and creating problems with rivals, referees and media. "I think he has to gain the respect and trust of the players by persuasion, not by imposition," Calderon told BBC Sport.
Portuguese journalist Duarte Monteiro, who covered Mourinho's recent season at Benfica, said the manager had not changed his fundamental character. "The problem, I think, for him is that the world changed," Monteiro said, noting that young players and the media environment were now less receptive to Mourinho's personality than they had been 20 or 25 years ago.
Robert Huth, who won back-to-back Premier League titles under Mourinho at Chelsea in 2005 and 2006, said the manager's greatest strength was his ability to unite a squad around a common purpose. "He galvanised the squad," said Huth. "His training was pure quality, his preparation was amazing, the level of detail he brought to the club, his mentality, the coaches he brought in — they were all on the same page."
