Impressing Jose Mourinho, who is commonly regarded as one of the best football managers of all time, is no easy task. After all, the self-proclaimed Special One managed some of the greatest clubs on European soil: Chelsea, Real Madrid and Inter Milan.
Throughout his lengthy – and illustrious – career on the touchline, Mourinho has taken all manner of superstars under his wing, including none other than five-time Ballon d’Or winner Cristiano Ronaldo during his 178-game spell as Los Blancos chief.
And while it’s safe to assume that Ronaldo impressed the Portuguese, that cannot be said for every player in the Real Madrid roster. And that’s the case of Raphael Varane, who played under Mourinho’s guidance on 48 different occasions.
Lille-born, Varane graduated from RC Lens’ academy and became one of the hottest commodities in world football. Sir Alex Ferguson-led Manchester United were interested in the defender, but Mourinho’s Real Madrid won the tug-of-war for his signature.
Varane Relives First Meeting with Mourinho
The Frenchman joined Los Blancos as one of the most sought-after talents
Meeting someone as influential in the footballing world as Mourinho, of course, can be nerve-wracking and Varane, speaking on Aurelien Tchouameni’s podcast ‘The Bridge’, per talkSPORT, reminisced over the first time he met the now-Fenerbahce custodian.
“When I arrived, he told me: ‘I only want one thing, that for an hour and a half every day, you give everything. The rest, don’t worry, you’ll progress, I’ll take care of it. Relax.’ The first season, I must have played fifteen matches in total.”
Varane, who is now retired after a lengthy playing career, continued: “But I played the matches where we had already qualified, the cup matches. He made me progress little by little and didn’t throw me in at the deep end right away.”
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Irrespective of his game time – or lack thereof – thanks to Sergio Ramos and Pepe striking up a formidable partnership, Varane enjoyed a decent maiden campaign in the Spanish capital after the aforementioned Pepe began to show signs of his age.
“I had a good first season, but now more was expected of me. So I overplayed a bit and I wasn’t comfortable. I wasn’t playing well,” the former France international – one of the greatest players in Real Madrid history – said about the 2012/13 season.
“And one day, at the start of the season, he called me, even though the team’s start to the season wasn’t great,” Varane – who became a four-time Champions League winner during his time in Spain. “I remember well, it was in the gym, he called me [over].”
“He’s someone I really respect, he’s charismatic, and he said to me straight out: ‘But why are you useless?’
“I looked at him like (surprised) because he had actually just stung me,” the ex-Manchester United ace commented before adding: “I looked at him and said that it wasn’t easy because I wasn’t playing and that it was a complicated start to the season.”
Mourinho’s Toughness Inspired Varane’s Upturn in Form
Aged 19, the Frenchman became a regular in Spain
Varane then insisted that Mourinho then asked him to play in the Champions League against Manchester City, an offer he couldn’t refuse. “He had nagged me then and then asked me if I was ready to play the following Wednesday.”
To put it straight, the former defender insisted that he wasn’t physically – albeit mentally confident – ready for the showpiece encounter and instead, attempted to bluff Mourinho into thinking he was prepared when, in reality, his poor form elicited plenty of worry.
A bit of a bluff, I said yes even though I wasn’t ready. I wasn’t physically ready, mentally I wasn’t confident, but I said yes, I was ready and that was it. He told me ‘OK’ and he left. In training, I gave it my all and the next day, the day before the match, I saw that I was in the team and that Sergio Ramos was on the bench.
“I was 19 years old and I told myself that I was in Spain at 19 and not well while there I was starting in the Champions League. If I messed up it was over and it was dead,” Varane continued. “Everything that was going to happen after that no longer existed, I would have been sent out on loan.”
Showcasing his elite win-at-all-costs mentality, the one-time World Cup winner rose to the pressures of Mourinho – and, in doing so, gave the serial winner a performance of a lifetime. “I played the match, I had cramps everywhere, but I had a good performance.”
“After that, I got back into it, and the season started off as planned. In the second half of the season, I had the best half of my career. He got me back into the swing of things; he’s the kind of coach who pushed me to get the best out of myself.
What happened post-Mourinho’s departure is the stuff of legend. Varane, alongside his partner in crime Ramos, struck fear into all manner of line-leaders across Europe. All in all, he chalked up 360 appearances for the football juggernauts before moving to England, to join Manchester United, in 2021.
Albeit a shock, it’s a decision that he has since revealed was fuelled by their ‘passion for football’. Signing off with an FA Cup final victory against Manchester City, he planned to spend the twilight period of his career at Como but prematurely retired at the tender age of 31.