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Mourinho reflects on Messi’s international retirement: “Players you always miss”

From La Nación · () Spanish

Translated from Spanish and summarized by DistantNews. Read the original for the full story.

At a glance

News Named sources Context piece
  • José Mourinho said Lionel Messi is one of the players his generation will always miss after Messi retired from Argentina’s national team.
  • Mourinho also apologized for past comments about Manuel Pellegrini and called him a great coach and a good person.
  • He said Julián Alvarez would remain an important Atlético Madrid player through December if he stayed with the club.

José Mourinho used his pre-match news conference to revisit two relationships that have followed him through his career: his old rivalry with Manuel Pellegrini and his admiration for Lionel Messi.

In the past, obviously, there are words you say and in the end, you feel like an idiot. You feel you were wrong... I have said some very stupid words about him

· José MourinhoHe reflected on his earlier criticism of Manuel Pellegrini.

Before Real Madrid’s meeting with Pellegrini’s Real Betis, Mourinho acknowledged that some of his past words about the Chilean coach had been foolish. “In the past, obviously, there are words you say and in the end, you feel like an idiot. You feel you were wrong... I have said some very stupid words about him,” he said. He added that Pellegrini was “a great coach, an example as a person” and promised to embrace him before the match.

Messi’s retirement from Argentina’s national team had dominated the sports conversation in the country during the week. Mourinho, who has long shown admiration for Argentina’s No. 10, said the player’s quality was difficult to describe. “There are times when there are players you are going to miss. Now we have to watch some MLS matches, which I do not like very much... because he is one of those players you always miss,” Mourinho said.

a great coach, an example as a person

· José MourinhoHe praised Pellegrini before their teams met in La Liga.

Asked about Julián Alvarez’s dispute with Atlético Madrid, Mourinho said no one understood the club better than Diego Simeone. He added that no player is happy when he is dissatisfied at a club, but said Alvarez would be important for Atlético from the day after the conference through December if he remained there.

There are times when there are players you are going to miss. Now we have to watch some MLS matches, which I do not like very much... because he is one of those players you always miss

· José MourinhoHe discussed Messi’s retirement from Argentina’s national team.
About this summary

Originally published by La Nación in Spanish. Translated, summarized, and contextualized automatically by DistantNews, with a note on how the source frames the story. Not individually reviewed before publishing. How this works.

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