![]() Mourinho knows how to inspire a team and he was always a leader. I had a great time with him and I learned a lot from him. “Of course, it’s special for me to play against him. The praise and love between the pair is clearly reciprocal with Alonso taking the time in his press conference to speak about how much admiration he has for his former boss. They also won the Copa del Rey in 2011 and the Spanish Super Cup in 2012 before Mourinho returned to Chelsea in the summer of 2013. The pair worked together in the Spanish capital for three years and managed to stop Barcelona’s dominance in 2012 when they won La Liga. Mourinho became head coach of Real Madrid just a year after Alonso joined the Spanish giants from Liverpool. We’ve always had a fantastic rapport, more than between a coach and a player.” Speaking ahead of the first leg, Mourinho spoke about how much he was looking forward to seeing his former player. Now, Xabi Alonso did become a manager and has taken Leverkusen to the Europa League semifinals, where he will face José Mourinho's Roma. José Mourinho predicted 4 years ago that, out of his former players, Xabi Alonso would become a good manager. ![]() The Spaniard is excelling in Germany and has his team in the hunt for a top-four finish domestically while they are just two good results away from a first European final in more than 20 years. There are countless examples of statements made by Mourinho that have turned out to be correct years down the line and his comments about Alonso certainly fit into that category. So if you put all that together then I would say that Xabi has the conditions to be a very good coach.” A prediction that has come true And he was coached by Guardiola at Bayern, by myself in Real Madrid, by Ancelotti in Real Madrid, and by Benitez in Liverpool. And then he played in Spain, England, and Germany. He grew up with a father who was a player then a manager, and then he became a player, of course much better than I was. Similarly to me, his father was a player. “With Xabi Alonso, you always saw there was a manager there. Back in 2019, when Alonso was starting his coaching career with Real Sociedad’s B team, Mourinho predicted big things for his former midfielder. The fact that Mourinho, who is being tipped with a move to PSG this summer, is coming up against Alonso isn’t going to be a surprise to the Portuguese coach. Mourinho is set to go head-to-head with one of his former players, Xabi Alonso, who is in his first season as the manager of Leverkusen. While the tie is big enough in its own right, there is an interesting subplot revolving around two managers. Roma overcame Feyenoord in the previous round while their German opponents defeated this year’s surprise package, Union Saint-Gilloise. Jose Mourinho is gearing up for yet another European semi-final tonight as his Roma side takes on Bayer Leverkusen for a place in the Europa League Final next month in Budapest.
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