Ronaldo: Mourinho staying at Real Madrid
Reuters - Tuesday 13 March 2012, 13:56
Jose Mourinho will stay
on as coach of Real Madrid next season, his Portuguese
compatriot Cristiano Ronaldo said on Tuesday, amid reports that
the self-styled 'Special One' was poised to return to London to
manage Chelsea.
As Real prepared for Wednesday's Champions League
round-of-16 second leg against CSKA Moscow at the Bernabeu,
Mourinho and Ronaldo appeared together at a news conference and
both were quizzed about the Chelsea reports.
"He is going to continue," Ronaldo, who netted Real's goal
in last month's 1-1 first-leg draw in Moscow, said with a smile.
"He is going to continue with us."
Mourinho responded with a terse "No" when asked if his
future depended on Real winning Europe's elite club competition,
as the La Liga leaders chase a 10th European crown and their
first since 2002.
Responding to a question about Wednesday's game, he added:
"If my future depends on the result of this tie? No. Unless the
club decides to fire me, but I do not base my decisions on
winning or losing one match."
The most successful manager in Chelsea's history, Mourinho
left in 2007 after falling out with the club's ruthless
billionaire owner Roman Abramovich.
He remains hugely popular with the Premier League side's
fans but after this season has two more years to run on his
four-year contract with Real, with whom he has won a King's Cup
since joining from Inter Milan in 2010.
Mourinho and Ronaldo were asked about Lionel Messi's goal
haul against Bayer Leverkusen last week, when the Argentine
World Player of the Year became the first player to score five
in a Champions League match.
"Very good, happy for him and for football," said Ronaldo,
who was World Player in 2008 before Messi won the award three
times in a row.
"I don't know if I would be able to do it one day but I hope
I can," added the former Manchester United forward.
The prolific pair have again been conducting a personal
scoring duel this season and Ronaldo has 32 goals in La Liga,
two more than Messi, and 40 in all competitions, compared with
50 for the Barca forward.
"I don't care what the others do. I just focus on myself and
my team," Ronaldo said. "If I score, good, if not it doesn't
matter. I am relaxed about it."
Mourinho said of Messi: "Scoring five goals is never easy in
any competition. It was a very good night for him."