Real Madrid beat Valencia 3-0 at Mestalla as Mourinho passes Guardiola for La Liga win rate

A three-goal win at Mestalla

Real Madrid beat Valencia 3-0 at Mestalla on Saturday, 7 November, in round 12 of La Liga. Federico Valverde opened the scoring in the 28th minute, Arda Güler doubled the lead in the 36th and Kylian Mbappé added the third in the 75th. The win lifted Madrid to 30 points, level with Barcelona, who were due to play Atlético Madrid on Sunday. Thibaut Courtois returned in goal, and El Confidencial counted it as the fifth clean sheet of the season. Vinícius Júnior was left out of the starting eleven and only came on in the final five minutes, when Mourinho made all five of his changes at once.

A record win rate in La Liga

SAPO reports that Mourinho's 97 wins in 126 La Liga games give him a 77% rate, the best of any coach with at least 100 matches in the competition. He moved ahead of Pep Guardiola on 76.3%, Carlo Ancelotti on 71.1%, Xavi Hernández on 69.6%, Zinedine Zidane on 67.8% and Luis Enrique on 66.4%. Hansi Flick has a higher rate at 79.3%, but he has coached only 87 league matches, which keeps him out of that ranking. Asked about the record, Mourinho said he had no idea of it and called it a source of pride. He added that the next match mattered more, because people forget beautiful numbers and the team feeds on the present.

José Mourinho77%

Pep Guardiola76.3%

Carlo Ancelotti71.1%

Xavi Hernández69.6%

Zinedine Zidane67.8%

Luis Enrique66.4%

José Mourinho

77 %

Pep Guardiola

76.3 %

Carlo Ancelotti

71.1 %

Xavi Hernández

69.6 %

Zinedine Zidane

67.8 %

Luis Enrique

66.4 %

Data from the article text

Fatigue and the international break

Mourinho said the players were in extreme fatigue and worried about them leaving for national teams. He said the squad had to rest so that they could play for their countries later.

“They are in extreme fatigue and have to be with their national team on Monday.”

The international break starts on Monday, 9 November, and Mourinho expected the players to still be recovering physically on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. He said he was worried about injury risk in international matches and hoped the squad would be lucky. He also criticised La Liga and its president Javier Tebas for scheduling three matches in seven days, saying Madrid had to be humble because the league holds the power. He said the cycle of matches had been too demanding for the squad.

The streak and the dressing room

The run began after the derby defeat at Atlético Madrid, a result that La Razón says was read from outside as the start of a crisis. Mourinho rejected that picture and said the squad had understood why it lost and what it could improve.

“We have never had chaos. We have always been calm.”

He said the squad should treat wins as normal and described a happy dressing room with loud music and calm players. From his experience, he said, the team smelled good. Asked about the defensive improvement, he credited the players rather than his own work.

“The credit is for the players.”

He pointed to Mbappé sprinting to close the right side after Güler was out of position in the second half, which he called a good example. Mourinho also described Mestalla as a passionate and demanding ground, where Madrid stayed calm while the home frustration grew.