Mourinho sparks Courtois clash by praising Lunin before the Clásico
In the Valdebebas press room on 17 October, 63‑year‑old José Mourinho turned the spotlight onto his understudy, 27‑year‑old Andrey Lunin, insisting the Russian keeper ‘deserves to play’, while subtly challenging 34‑year‑old Thibaut Courtois ahead of Real Madrid’s Sunday Clásico with Barcelona.
Mourinho seized the Valdebebas press conference to champion his understudy. He declared, “Lunin merece jugar y no estoy de broma. Lunin merece jugar, pero no juega. Compite cada día con el mejor portero del mundo…”, insisting the 27‑year‑old Russian “deserves to play”. The statement came as the 63‑year‑old coach defended his selection policy at Real Madrid.
Mourinho’s psychological tactics
The manager’s repeated references to Lunin were not prompted by a direct question. Instead, Mourinho used the keeper as a psychological lever to prod the ego of 34‑year‑old Thibaut Courtois. By repeatedly praising Lunin, he aimed to force Courtois into delivering his best performance for Real Madrid in the upcoming Clásico against Barcelona.
Courtois answered the challenge in the league win over Sevilla, making four saves in a 4‑1 triumph. After the match, Mourinho again lauded Lunin, saying, “Respeto mucho al Lunin. Es un gran portero, merece jugar. Pero Courtois está jugando a un nivel muy alto”. The comment juxtaposed Lunin’s merit with Courtois’s high‑level display for Real Madrid.
Courtois warns: winning at the Camp Nou will send a strong message
Media narratives and past glories
Sergio López of Diario AS, writing for Stephan Keygnaert Voetbal, posted the “Laatste update” at 07:59 on Thursday, the day after Real’s Champions League clash with Leipzig. López opened with a poetic line about All Saints’ Day and titled his piece “Thibaut Courtois, salvando al Real Madrid”. Radio station Cadena SER repeatedly described Courtois’s saves as “otro milagro del gigante”, a “miracle of the Belgian giant”.
Mourinho’s reputation for mind games echoes his 2011 incident at Camp Nou, when he jabbed a finger at late Barça coach Tito Vilanova. That season, Real Madrid secured La Liga with 100 points, 121 goals and a +89 goal difference, a campaign Mourinho once described as his peak. Observers now note that the current squad feels “old wine in new bags”, lacking the positional play of his earlier side.
A Flemish television commentator recently remarked that “the fire is out of Mourinho’s eyes”, noting the coach’s age of 63 and his softened “bad‑boy” image. He admitted that the present Real Madrid stands far from the side that dominated the April 2012 Clásico with Cristiano Ronaldo’s famous “calma calma” gesture. Mourinho himself conceded that his chances of influencing the Sunday Clásico are limited.
Nevertheless, the double‑edged praise for Lunin remains a classic Mourinho tactic: a public endorsement designed to extract a monster performance from Courtois when the spotlight shines on Real Madrid at the Camp Nou.