"A message to La Liga and Tebas… I have to be humble because they have the power. I ask them not to do the same thing to us." José Mourinho's most pointed line after Real Madrid's 3-0 win over Valencia had little to do with the score. On a night when he was told he now owns the best win percentage in La Liga history, the manager was more interested in fatigue, travel and the lack of recovery before the second international break of the season.

The result at Mestalla was straightforward enough. The post-match message was not. Mourinho praised his squad, accepted the pride of the milestone and then used the press conference to warn the league that the recent run of games had pushed too far.

The record and the complaint

The backdrop was Valencia vs Real Madrid, a 0-3 away win that sent Madrid into the break on five straight La Liga victories. They are second in the table with 30 points from 12 matches, having scored 31 and conceded 10.

Mourinho was told afterwards that he had 97 victories from 126 league matches across his two spells at the Bernabeu, enough to give him the best win percentage in La Liga history. Quoted by madriduniversal.com, he said: "It tells me we have to win the next one. Because… in this life, the beautiful numbers, the ones that have some meaning… people forget. And we don’t feed on numbers from the past; we feed on the present. And we have to win the next one."

That response fits him, but the pride was still there. Quoted by siempremadrid.com, Mourinho added: "But I had no idea about that statistic. Obviously, it’s a source of pride, because Spanish football has had so many top managers throughout its history. To be among them with those numbers is an honour. But, as I said, the next match is the most important thing."

What grabbed more attention, though, was the scheduling complaint. Speaking to siempremadrid.com, Mourinho said: "A message to La Liga and Tebas… I have to be humble because they have the power. I ask them not to do the same thing to us. Because it’s… I don’t want to say it’s superhuman, because it’s possible, but it’s very difficult. And… if they want to play this joke, they can play it on someone else. Let us have a break after this marathon of travelling and matches, from Sunday to Saturday, which has been… which has been too much."

That is a fair complaint. Mourinho did not present it as proof of injuries or collapse, and he did not need to. He framed it around recovery, and that lines up with the bigger concern before players head off on international duty.

He made that explicit too. Again quoted by siempremadrid.com, Mourinho said: "Do you want to know what worries me now? It worries me because… if they stayed here with me and my staff, we would give them very special attention when it comes to… to helping those players recover. But they’re going away with their national teams."

The performance Mourinho wanted to talk up

Mourinho did make time to praise the team, and the performance gave him plenty to work with. Madrid's domestic winning run now stands at five, and they have also won all four of their Champions League matches this season.

He pushed the credit onto the dressing room rather than himself. Quoted by siempremadrid.com, Mourinho said: "They deserve the credit. The credit belongs to the players. I can’t identify anything in my own work that has been the key to… to making them do this. I simply do my normal job, and they’re responding individually and as a team… they’re responding in a… spectacular way."

The description matched the shape of the numbers. Thirty-one goals in 12 league matches is a strong attacking return, while 10 conceded suggests the balance is better than just throwing talent forward. Mourinho's own explanation was about work without the ball as much as possession.

He told siempremadrid.com: "There’s been tremendous progress, although I think the fact that we had so much possession today and… and… therefore had very little defensive work to do also helped. But we should also point out that whenever we lose the ball, our reaction has always been excellent."

He even picked out one moment as proof, saying there was an image in front of his bench in the second half when Arda was out of position and Kylian sprinted back to close the right side. It is the sort of detail Mourinho usually saves for teams he trusts. The clean sheet for Thibaut Courtois and the output around players like Federico Valverde fit the same theme, a side with enough control to win well and enough discipline to avoid getting stretched.

Valencia's complaint over the turning point

The game still left a refereeing argument behind it. Mourinho described Mestalla as a stadium of passion and said frustration grows when Valencia face a side he considered individually and collectively superior, but the home view was very different.

Javier Aguirre, quoted by madriduniversal.com, said: "The goal and the way we conceded it knocked the wind out of us. Regarding the foul in the build-up to the goal, we agree that it would have been a straight red card if the referee had called it."

He went further on the second goal, saying: "The 0-2 then became a huge blow. I’m being very cautious with my words. I dare to say this because I told the referee: if it’s a foul, it’s a red card. That’s a fairly straightforward interpretation, and I’m justifying my position, but I don’t think it was fair."

Aguirre's case is easy to follow, especially when he said the match was evenly balanced until the first goal and that the goals disrupted Valencia's plan. Still, that remains an argument rather than a settled conclusion. Madrid won 3-0, Mourinho left talking about the schedule, and his side go into the break with five straight league wins and a manager now credited with a 77.08% La Liga win rate.

FAQ

Why was Mourinho angry after Real Madrid beat Valencia?

Mourinho's main complaint after the 3-0 win at Valencia was the schedule. He said the run of travel and matches, from Sunday to Saturday and across multiple cities, had been too much for his players. His concern was recovery before the second international break, not a claim about injuries.

What La Liga record did Mourinho mention after the Valencia game?

Mourinho was told after the match that he now has the best win percentage in La Liga history. The figure given to him was 97 victories from 126 league matches across his two spells at Real Madrid, which works out at 77.08%.

Did Mourinho praise Real Madrid's players after the Valencia win?

Yes. Mourinho made a point of saying the credit belonged to the players rather than to his own work. He also praised the team's reaction after losing the ball and highlighted a second-half sprint back by Kylian Mbappe after Arda was out of position.

Was there controversy in Valencia vs Real Madrid?

Yes, but the issue is not settled. Javier Aguirre argued the foul in the build-up to Real Madrid's second goal should have led to a straight red card and said the 0-2 changed the match. Mourinho's side saw the performance differently, so the debate remains part of the fallout.

Written by Daniel Hartley with AI-assisted research, cross-checked against 4 outlets. How we work →