Mourinho on Real Madrid's comeback in Rome: "an organized rebellion"

Going down 3-1 away from home and ending up winning 3-4. Said quickly like that, it sounds almost like a miracle. But Jose Mourinho didn't want to talk about miracles after Real Madrid's comeback against Roma in the second matchday of the Champions League: he preferred to talk about "rebellion," though with his own particular twist.

"It's a rebellion in quotation marks, because it's an organized rebellion, an emotional one, within a tactical context that helped us a lot against a team whose style I knew perfectly well, Gasperini's teams," the Portuguese coach explained to Movistar Plus+ microphones right after the final whistle.

Real Madrid had anything but an easy night. Roma stood their ground, caught Madrid off guard and even made the match an uphill battle at one point. Mourinho was the first to admit it: his opponent threw him off with a setup that didn't resemble anything from the previous matches he had studied.

They set up a positionally different match from all the ones they've played up to now and that we analyzed.Jose Mourinho

The Real Madrid coach broke down how Roma made life difficult down the flank: "They attacked us with three players on the right wing," he noted. And just when it seemed his team had found some stability at the start of the second half, the blow he wasn't expecting arrived. "When the second half starts and it seemed like the team was in better shape, we concede a goal we can't afford to concede, and on a transition they score," he lamented.

An opponent "that plays a different sport"

Mourinho didn't hold back praise for the Italian side's style, though he made clear that kind of pace can't be sustained for an entire match. "A very tough opponent, that plays a different sport from the soccer we're used to, very hard to play against, but it's also very hard for them to play with that intensity for 90 minutes," he analyzed. And he was honest about the goals conceded: "A couple of the goals we conceded, I didn't like at all, but that's part of soccer," he admitted without dwelling on it further.

What he did highlight, and with enthusiasm, was his players' response. They could have settled for a draw, which on a pitch like that would have been a more than decent result. But they didn't settle. "We made changes with a lot of courage, which the players showed, with a draw that would always be a positive point away from home against a tough opponent, we always wanted more and that's it," the coach summed up.

With this win, Real Madrid have six points through two matchdays of the group stage, against opponents Mourinho didn't hesitate to call demanding. "We have six points against two opponents who, I won't say are the best, because Arsenal is out there, but these were very tough matches and we're putting ourselves in a very good position," the coach concluded, aware that his team's European start is on the right track, even if it hasn't come without a few scares.