Real Add King's Cup With Mourinho

Real Madrid celebrate Copa del Rey victory

Jose Mourinho claimed another cup on Wednesday night when Real Madrid took the Copa del Rey by one goal to nil in Valencia, against rivals Barcelona.

For it was his first trophy at Real Madrid boss in a match which saw his side edging out the Catalan club thanks to Cristiano Ronaldo’s header in the 102nd minute of extra-time.

Angel di Maria, who set up the goal for the Portuguese, was later sent off but Madrid managed to hold on.

“I am thrilled to win the Copa del Rey — it is something special,” Mourinho said after the game. “It’s a fantastic triumph against a great team like Barcelona — and we deserved it.”

With two games played in the past seven days Mourinho is now preparing for the two Champions League encounter in the coming two weeks, with the first leg at the Estadio Santiago Bernabeu next Wednesday.

“We can take them on over two games; we have just done that,” he said. “There is no reason we can’t beat them in the Champions League because we have just drawn once against them and then beaten them.”

The former Chelsea and Inter Milan coach says the Copa del Rey is just the beginning for this Madrid side.

“I came here to do a job and change the mentality of the club,” he said. “We have started to do that and it’s satisfying — but it’s just the start.”

Ronaldo, the match winner said he knew the first goal would prove crucial.

“We knew that whoever scored first would win it — and so it proved,” he said. “Mourinho has given us a winning spirit and this is a really important trophy for us — it was an objective we had for this season and we have achieved it.”

Barcelona coach Pep Guardiola was philosophical in defeat after losing his first final as coach of the Catalan club.

“It’s always better to win than to lose,” Guardiola said after the game. “But life is like that — you can’t always win.”

For Jose Mourinho it is the fourth Cup of his career having won similar titles in his home country, the FA Cup in England and the Coppa Italia in Italy with Inter Milan and becomes first Real Madrid coach to win titles in four different countries. Other Real Madrid coaches have only won Cup titles in three different countries; Vujadin Boskov (Spain, Italy, Netherlands) and John Toshack (Spain, Wales, Turkey).