Jose Mourinho says Iker Casillas 'secretly' challenged him at Real Madrid
Friday 23 November 2018 14:20, UK
Jose Mourinho believes Iker Casillas attempted to "secretly" challenge his authority during their time together at Real Madrid.
Mourinho dropped Casillas during the 2012-13 season and caused further controversy by playing youth product Antonio Adan and new signing Diego Lopez over the club captain for the remainder of the campaign.
Mourinho left the Bernabeu at the end of the season but Casillas failed to win back his starting place under new manager Carlo Ancelotti, with Lopez largely preferred in the 2013-14 campaign.
Speaking in a recent interview with Universo Valdano channel Vamos, Casillas says he wished had taken "the bull by the horns" and confronted Mourinho at the time.
However, the Manchester United manager insists Casillas did challenge his authority, albeit indirectly.
"It seems like an interview with someone who is at the end of his career," Mourinho told Portuguese newspaper Record.
"But when it comes to me when he says he has never confronted me, that is not the truth.
"He did it in a way that no one does better than him; secretly."
