Álvaro Arbeloa called José Mourinho “one of us” as Real Madrid prepare to face their former coach’s current side Benfica in the Champions League on Wednesday.
Madrid go into the game at the Estadio da Luz on 15 points — looking to confirm their place in the top eight — while Mourinho’s Benfica, with just six points from seven games, must win to stand a chance of progressing to the knockout phase.
Mourinho coached Arbeloa as a player while he was in charge at the Bernabéu between 2010 and 2013, and — speaking in a news conference on Tuesday — the now Madrid boss described his mentor as a “role model.”
“I said it on my first day [as coach]: there will never be anyone like José,” Arbeloa said. “Anyone who tries to imitate him will fail, and I’ve understood that from day one. My success will be being myself.”
Arbeloa took over from another former Mourinho player, Xabi Alonso, earlier this month, and has bounced back from a Copa del Rey exit in his debut game to win three matches in a row, including Saturday’s victory at Villarreal.
The Madrid coach said he’d stayed in touch with Mourinho in the years since they were together at the Bernabéu, but had resisted looking for managerial advice too often.
“I know who Mourinho is, I know what his phone must be like,” Arbeloa said. “You can understand why he changes his number so often. I’ve tried to ‘bother’ him as little as possible. But he’s one of those friends you can go a long time without speaking to, and then if you call him at 3 a.m., I’m sure he’d answer.”
Arbeloa wouldn’t speculate about a possible Bernabéu return for Mourinho in the future, with the former Porto, Chelsea and Internazionale coach under pressure at Benfica after a difficult season.
Wednesday’s game in Lisbon marks a return to the stadium where Madrid won the Champions League in 2014, a year after Mourinho departed having guided the team to three successive UCL semifinals, without progressing further.
“I don’t like to talk about hypotheticals,” Arbeloa said. “What the victory here 12 years ago meant deserves so much credit, just like Carlo [Ancelotti]’s or [Zinedine] Zidane’s later on.
“But Mourinho laid the foundations for those years. That’s something I feel. I believe he’s always been valued within the club. And that’s why he was, is, and always will be one of us.”
