Mourinho: Mbappe is 'hungry and amazing'
Portuguese coach Jose Mourinho praised his team and French star Kylian Mbappe, who scored a hat-trick in a 4-1 victory over Real Sociedad on Wednesday in a match postponed from the opening round of the Spanish La Liga.
Mourinho said at the post-match press conference: “We had difficulty in the first half because we did not press well, but Sociedad did not pose a real threat to our goal, and they scored from their only shot.”
He added that Real Sociedad appeared highly organized, commending their coach and the way they rely on creating space between the center-backs, which made it difficult to press their players.
Mourinho explained that his team made adjustments at halftime, which clearly impacted their performance, saying: “In the second half, we scored three more goals, and we could have scored five or six.”
However, the Portuguese manager felt that a larger defeat would have seemed harsh on Real Sociedad, who had a good first half before struggling after the break against the quality of players like Mbappe and Jude Bellingham.
Speaking about Mbappe, Mourinho said: “He has made history and become the top scorer in World Cup history, but I see him hungry to achieve more with Real Madrid.”
When asked how many goals he expects from the French striker this season, he said: “Kylian is an amazing player, and I don’t know if he will score 40, 50, or 60 goals, but I prefer him to score 40 goals and win titles, rather than score 60 without winning any.”
He concluded: “I prefer him to score 40 goals while putting in extra effort for the benefit of the team, rather than scoring 60 goals to fulfill personal ambitions, as happens with many strikers.”
Meanwhile, with striker Julian Alvarez missing training on Tuesday and Wednesday due to illness, his absence from the team’s trip to Andalusia seems likely. Atlético Madrid announced its firm refusal to negotiate the transfer of the Argentine international to Barcelona.
The Madrid-based club stated in an official press release: “The board members of Atlético Madrid unanimously support the club’s decision not to negotiate the transfer of Alvarez to Barcelona.”
The statement added that board members are aware that “Atlético Madrid is open to standard negotiations that take place in the transfer market, but always within a framework of ethics, professionalism, and mutual respect between clubs. We fully support the position previously announced by the club, which stated that Barcelona did not meet these requirements, as we declared in a previous statement.”
It continued: “As a result, we have not negotiated and will not negotiate with Barcelona regarding the transfer of Julian Alvarez.”
Atlético Madrid concluded its statement by expressing confidence that Alvarez will understand the club management’s decision, focus on performing his duties in the best possible way to help the club achieve its objectives, and continue to defend the club’s shirt as he has done over the past two seasons.
In other matches on Saturday, Levante will play against Real Betis, and Real Sociedad will face Espanyol.
