Jose Mourinho and Iker Casillas Recall Real Madrid Fallout

Although there was a lot of success in Jose Mourinho’s first spell at Real Madrid, both in how he managed to end Barcelona’s domestic dominance - breaking records in the process - and also in terms of making the club a lot more successful in the UEFA Champions League, laying the foundations for what soon followed, it did not come without drama.

There were a number of falling outs with players, particularly in the third and final season. This lead to the “Third season Jose” tag, used in a derogatory way to describe how his third season at clubs often goes up in flames.

One of the players he most notably fell out with was goalkeeper and club legend, Iker Casillas. To the point where he would often bench him for others such as Diego Lopez in the 12/13 season.

A lot of the talk was because Mourinho is said not to have liked how friendly Casillas was with the Spanish Barcelona players, whom he was international team mates with, winning the World Cup and the European Championships back to back.

Well, it turns out that the worst kept secret is indeed true, if there was ever any doubt at all, thanks to quotes from the new Mourinho documentary being shown on Netflix.

In the documentary, Casillas defended himself, saying (via MadridXtra): “You (as in himself) were captain of Real Madrid and Spain, facing team mates who were your enemies on the pitch, but then your fellow players with the national team.

I didn’t like seeing that (being enemies and fighting with his Spain team mates at club level), and I told Mourinho.”

Then, the 63-year old gave his side of events (via MadridXtra again): “This is Barcelona vs Real Madrid. When you go to the national team, you can give each other kisses but not now. This is war.

There are things I can’t accept and will never accept. When someone doesn’t respect me, it becomes a problem.”

Well, even now, or recently when this documentary was made, the Portuguese manager sticks by his call, rightly or wrongly. Had he stayed at the club into the 13/14 season, you can’t help what would have happened with Casillas that summer. Their relationship seemed pretty untenable.

On a lesser scale, there were other players that Mourinho was said to have had fallings out with, such as Mesut Ozil and even Cristiano Ronaldo himself. Sometimes strong personalities will clash, even if everyone ultimately wants the same thing.

We know there are a lot of strong, very strong personalities in the current Real Madrid dressing room, so it’s going to be absolutely fascinating to see how it all plays out this season, both on and off of the pitch. Not long to go now, let’s see what happens in the end. For better or worse, it's going to be one hell of a ride.