After Real Madrid beat Leipzig 4-1 in the UEFA Champions League, José Mourinho said he would not talk about what would happen on Sunday or whether Federico Valverde would play in that position again on Saturday, but said the midfielder had delivered a good performance.
Question after the Leipzig match
Mourinho said: "I won't talk about what will happen on Sunday, and I won't answer whether he'll play in this position again on Saturday. But I will say that Fede put in a good performance."
Valverde's recent role
GOAL said Federico Valverde has filled in at right-back for Real Madrid's last two matches. GOAL said Trent Alexander-Arnold and Denzel Dumfries were on the bench in those matches.
Mourinho on the selection choice
In remarks carried by Marca, Mourinho said: "Playing Fede as a right-back is something that pains me, because it means leaving out two players who naturally occupy this position."
Courtois, Cech and Mourinho's view
Mourinho said: "I've never done that. I've never spoken about my own players. I get asked this question a lot: pick the best eleven goalkeepers out of all the players I've coached over twenty years. But what I can say is that when Courtois joined us (Chelsea), and he was about 20 years old, he ended up playing as a starter, even though Petr Cech was then the best goalkeeper in the history of the Premier League."
Mourinho said: "We won the league title with Courtois in goal, while Cech, the best of them all, had to settle for playing in the cup competitions. If I said something like that, Júlio César (the former Inter Milan goalkeeper) would call me within two minutes to say: 'Oh, so Courtois is the best then? But you won the Champions League with me!'. He would definitely call me straight away. I have always maintained this kind of respect towards my former players."