Real Madrid does not believe in the football proverb: "Never return to the old place".
Historically, the Royal team has seen 52 coaches (official or interim) come to work. 13 of them have "the second honeymoon" - meaning given the opportunity to return, some even many times.
Nearly half, including Carlo Ancelotti and Zinedine Zidane, have been in this category in just the past 3 decades.
The true romance of the club nicknamed ‘La Casa Blanca’ (White House), when the reappearance of a familiar face in the coaching chair at the Bernabeu is considered a more traditional imprint than a habit.
Jose Mourinho is the latest name to reunite in the capital of Spain, 13 years after the early period ended in bitterness. Trying to complete what is still unfinished is a repeated scenario in the coaching career of the Portuguese strategist.
Madrid became the third club he coached more than once, after periods of "rebuilding" at Benfica and Chelsea.
However, this is still a surprising move, just a few months after a very tense clash with Los Blancos in the Champions League.
Before that, in nearly a decade and a half after Mourinho left, the feelings between the two sides were also not much left. His "life after Bernabeu" became a topic of ridicule as much as curiosity.
In 2018, after Manchester United was eliminated from the Champions League by Sevilla, the pro-Madrid newspaper Marca compared him to ‘an outdated rock star, one of those who run shows around retirement hotels, playing old music on an organ with bass and drums coming from a record player’.
In terms of comparative images, there is hardly any sarcasm more harsh than this for "The Special One" who is now in his sixties.
Los Blancos once witnessed the beginning of his "villain role" and perhaps the most volatile period in the 3-year period, with only 1 La Liga title and 1 Copa del Rey considered major championships.
Gloomy signals
Unlike the reappearance of Ancelotti and Zidane, President Florentino Perez bet his successful re-election campaign on the fact that "lightning will not strike twice" in the return of the two-time European champion. Mourinho is once again tasked with stopping Barcelona's domestic dominance.
But the signs have begun to turn gloomy. The Catalan team won the Liga championship last season with an 8-point gap - which should have been even bigger if they had not actively slowed down in 2 of the last 3 rounds.
Confidence is still at a high level that they can continue to take the upper hand, in the context that both teams have 106 wins in official encounters. Barca can soon equalize, even surpass Madrid's record of 105 major titles after approaching this milestone with the 29th Spanish championship.
With Mourinho, he took over a squad lacking both confidence and discipline. The proof is the embarrassing ending in the short term of Xabi Alonso and the derailment at the end of the interim Alvaro Arbeloa.
Time also does not reduce his sharp, considered ugly nature. The noisy rifts with Cristiano Ronaldo, Iker Casillas and Sergio Ramos; or publicly mocking Perez's vision of the'Zidanes y Pavones' policy - a combination of stars like Zidane with self-trained talents like Paco Pavon... are just a few mentioned.
Looking back at the past, perhaps Mourinho would have done better if he had tried to win over a star squad rather than facing the powerful faction in the dressing room.
Currently, Madrid's early summer transfer deals - Bernardo Silva, Marc Cucurella and Ibrahima Konate - are among the strong personalities that Mourinho will need to conquer at Valdebebas.
In addition, after alluding that Vinicius Junior has committed the discriminatory behavior that he often has to endure, the big problem is to make up with him, even if Yan Diomande can come and predict a not very bright future for the Brazilian star.
Mourinho understands that Real Madrid will be his last top job, after only receiving offers from Roma, Fenerbahce and Benfica since leaving the Premier League 5 years ago.
This return, Mourinho refused a formal debut and somewhat avoided the media. It shows that he hopes to avoid past mistakes, when failure is not allowed at present.
