After inheriting a faltering Real Madrid, Mourinho immediately mounted a challenge to Pep Guardiola’s Barcelona, winning La Liga, the Copa del Rey and the Spanish Super Cup across his first two seasons at the Bernabéu. Madrid’s 100-point league haul in 2011-12 has never been bettered in La Liga.
His third season unraveled. Madrid finished the 2012-13 campaign 15 points behind Barcelona, who equalled the 100-point mark, and Mourinho was dismissed.
A major flashpoint was his handling of Iker Casillas, which split the dressing room. Despite 725 appearances over 25 years, plus three Champions Leagues and five league titles, the club captain spent much of 2012-13 on the bench. Casillas later said their relationship had turned “very cold” and ultimately broke down. Former midfielder Sami Khedira added that the feud poisoned the atmosphere, saying benching and publicly criticising a club icon alienated the squad and damaged Mourinho’s relationships with key figures, including Cristiano Ronaldo, Casillas and Sergio Ramos.
Mourinho, for his part, argued Casillas had a poor attitude, recalling early conversations in which the goalkeeper asked for extra holidays for internationals, later training times because of Madrid traffic and no pre-match hotel stays—requests that led Mourinho to conclude players were spoiled. Casillas also said they clashed over Mourinho’s hardline stance toward Spain teammates at Barcelona. Unapologetic, Mourinho maintained he would not tolerate disrespect and framed the Real-Barça rivalry as “war,” insisting national-team camaraderie should stay with Spain, not in club competition.