Mourinho Real Madrid exit revisited as the coach reveals how dressing-room tensions with Iker Casillas and players contributed to his 2013 departure

José Mourinho has offered a candid account of his 2013 Real Madrid exit, revealing that growing frustration with players, dressing-room tensions and the pressure surrounding the club eventually convinced him that his time at the Santiago Bernabéu had come to an end.

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Mourinho returned to Real Madrid this summer for a second spell, 13 years after his first tenure ended.

His latest comments feature in a new three-part Netflix documentary about his career, released on August 11, 2026.

The Portuguese coach initially arrived in Madrid in 2010 after leading Inter Milan to a historic treble. During his three seasons in Spain, Mourinho won the Copa del Rey and the 2011/12 LaLiga title, when Real Madrid finished with a record 100 points and ended Barcelona’s three-year league dominance.

However, his final season became increasingly difficult, with disagreements involving senior players and a deterioration in the dressing-room atmosphere.

Mourinho particularly revisited his relationship with former Real Madrid captain Iker Casillas, describing their early interactions as an indication of what he believed was a problematic mentality within the squad.

According to Mourinho, Casillas initially approached him to request additional holiday time for players involved with the Spain national team.

The second conversation concerned the team’s training schedule. Mourinho said Casillas asked him to move training back by an hour because of heavy traffic in Madrid.

The third request concerned pre-match preparations, with Casillas telling Mourinho that players preferred not to stay at the team hotel before matches and would rather meet on matchday before travelling directly to the stadium.

Mourinho said those encounters quickly shaped his view of the squad’s mentality.

The coach later became increasingly frustrated with Casillas, eventually dropping the goalkeeper during the 2012/13 season and replacing him with Diego López.

The decision became one of the most controversial moments of Mourinho’s Madrid tenure and contributed to divisions within the dressing room.

Reflecting on the breakdown, Mourinho acknowledged that the frustration was not one-sided.

“I believe the players had grown weary of me as a leader, and I felt the same towards them,” Mourinho said.

“I was frustrated with them, not just the other way around. I was fed up with the players and the media. I wanted to leave. I sensed that my time was up.”

The 2012/13 campaign eventually ended without a major trophy, with Real Madrid losing the Copa del Rey final to Atlético Madrid. Mourinho subsequently described that season as the worst of his managerial career.

Three days after the cup final defeat, Real Madrid president Florentino Pérez announced that Mourinho would leave the club by mutual agreement at the end of the season.

Mourinho’s departure came after a period of intense scrutiny, with his relationships with Casillas, Sergio Ramos and other senior figures becoming increasingly strained.

The Portuguese manager went on to return to Chelsea, before later managing Manchester United, Tottenham Hotspur, Roma and Fenerbahçe.

His new Netflix documentary has now reopened one of the most turbulent chapters of his career just as Mourinho begins his second spell at Real Madrid.

The retrospective offers a revealing look at a manager who achieved significant success in Madrid but ultimately found the pressure and internal divisions impossible to sustain.

Also read: Rashford returns to Man Utd squad for Milan clash

Mourinho’s latest comments also provide a more personal explanation for the 2013 departure: rather than blaming one individual alone, he portrayed the split as the culmination of mutual exhaustion between a demanding manager and a squad that had grown increasingly resistant to his leadership.