MADRID: Jose Mourinho guided Real Madrid to a 2-1 victory over his former club, Inter Milan, in a tense match at the Santiago Bernabeu early this morning.
The 15-time European champions took a two-goal lead through Kylian Mbappe and Fede Valverde in the first half thanks to two mistakes by Inter players.
Carlos Augusto closed the gap for Cristian Chivu’s team in the second half, but Inter failed to find an equalizer.
Mourinho led Inter to Champions League glory in 2010 at the same stadium, before joining Real Madrid for his first spell as manager a few days later.
After two seasons without a major trophy and early elimination on the European stage, Real president Florentino Perez brought the Portuguese coach home to restore the club’s glory.
Mourinho started the league phase with an entertaining victory, helping Real bounce back after suffering their first defeat of the season to Real Betis in La Liga last Friday.
“It was a crazy match. There is always criticism when matches are boring and today it was a crazy match.
“A match that ended 2-1 could have ended 7-6 without any problems,” Mourinho told Movistar.
Mourinho admitted his team struggled to control the game, but said Inter had also failed to do the same.
“If you don’t have control and they do, it’s a very difficult situation.
“But if you don’t have that and they don’t have that… Courtois made a lot of saves, but how many chances did we miss?… It was a great match,” he said.
Inter striker Lautaro Martinez admitted his team failed to capitalise on opportunities after Thibaut Courtois, making his 100th Champions League appearance, made several crucial saves.
“We failed to capitalize on all the opportunities we created.
“We still leave this place proud of playing at a high level against a great opponent.
“Courtois is one of the best goalkeepers in the world, but we need to improve our finishing and should be able to do better,” said the Inter captain.
Inter started the game aggressively but two big mistakes in defense gave Real a chance.
Courtois made two saves as Inter tested the home defence early in the game.
However, in the 14th minute, Curtis Jones’ poor pass put Yann Bisseck under pressure before Brahim Diaz passed the ball to Mbappe, who quickly finished off the opportunity to open the scoring.
Real doubled their advantage when Inter goalkeeper Josep Martinez held onto the ball for too long before Valverde attacked him and snatched the ball to slot home.
Mourinho’s side should have added to their tally before the break, but Martinez made up for his mistake by denying Jude Bellingham’s effort.
Mbappe sprinted past the Inter defence before his shot was saved by Martinez, who then blocked Bellingham’s shot from close range.
Courtois also saved the day by saving Alessandro Bastoni’s low shot as Inter tried to get back into the game.
“The second half was a bit too crazy and that’s something we need to improve,” said Courtois.
Carlos Augusto then headed in Lautaro Martinez’s pass in the 77th minute to give Real a worrying end to the match.
But Courtois once again saved his team when he parried Henrikh Mkhitaryan’s attempt to ensure Real took home the three points.
Valverde was named man of the match, but the Uruguayan midfielder said the award also belonged to Courtois.
“I think he saved us today. He produced an incredible performance, so I think this award also belongs to him,” said Valverde.