Pardrag Matijević: The Old Wolf Instinct of Mourinho Saved Real!

Pardrag Matijević praised José Mourinho's performance during Real Madrid's victory over Roma.

According to "Sports Three", Mijatovic, a Real Madrid player from 1996 to 1999 and the club's sports director from 2006 to 2009, analyzed the impact of Mourinho's decisions on Real Madrid's epic comeback against Roma in the European Champions League in the El Larguero program. After his team won 3-4, Mourinho pointed out that the poor performance in the first half was the manager's fault and the good result in the second half was down to the players.

Mijatovic emphasized on Radio Kadnacer that it was Mourinho's old wolf instinct that helped him bring on Arda Guler, Andrik and Espy at the right time and within 10 minutes change the outcome of a match that seemed lost. The former player said: "The first half worried me a bit, especially considering how Roma are playing. They always do one-on-one coaching and it takes a lot of energy during the 90 minutes. "Mourinho knew that the first half was weak and he was already confident that the Roma players could not maintain that rhythm in the final minutes."

"Mourinho was fantastic," emphasized Mijatovic. He waited for the right moment and even took off players who might have been angry at being substituted, like Vinicius, to bring on players who came off the bench with more energy. This changed the match.

This fixture will provide Mourinho with a number of options, players who can play an important role without necessarily being in the starting line-up. Coming back with such a result also boosts the confidence of these same players who usually don't get many minutes to play. "Mourinho knows exactly who he can trust, when he can trust them and which players he has ready to change the outcome of a match."