Mourinho out to conquer all

Jose Mourinho has vowed to make football history and become the first coach to complete what he describes as the managerial grand slam - winning titles in the English Premier League, Italy's Serie A and La Liga in Spain. Having won championships with Chelsea in England and Inter Milan in Italy, Mourinho is now looking ahead to completing the hat-trick with Real Madrid in Spain.

He joined Real from Inter during the close season with a mission to restore the fallen Spanish giants. La Liga season kicks off next weekend, with Real travelling to Mallorca on Sunday week. With typical bravado, Mourinho has no doubts about his ability to fulfil his mission. "I am aware no manager has won titles in England, Italy and Spain. It is a great challenge and inspiration to me," he said.

"I want to be part of history by winning a grand slam. But I would not say that is the priority. There is the Champions League, too. I'd like it if we could win both because for a club like Real Madrid it's never enough only to play for one title. "With a squad like ours we should be able to go for every title. The main objective is to win at least one title this season. Everyone around this club deserves that and I am confident that I'll make Real Madrid No 1 again"

In that sense, despite Real's great affinity with the European Cup, wresting domestic dominance back from Barcelona is Mourinho's most pressing challenge. The task is intensified by a fraught relationship Mourinho has with Barcelona, the reigning La Liga champions, in recent years. Mourinho developed as a coach at Barca, moving up the ranks under Sir Bobby Robson in the late 1990s before moving on to establish himself as a manager at Benfica in Portugal.

But some spiky cup clashes against Barca when he was in charge of Chelsea, then Inter, has seen Mourinho become a hate figure among the more extreme fans of the Catalan club. That he is now the manager of Real, Barca's bitter rivals, will only intensify the loathing. As if there was not enough pressure on him to deliver for an expectant Madrid. Mourinho insists he does not hate Barca but seems to revel in the hostility and the weight of expectation at Santiago Bernabeu.

"Hate is a very strong word. I'm Real Madrid coach now and that means Barcelona is our main rival, and one of my main objectives is to beat them," Mourinho said. "I have had many encounters with Barcelona at Chelsea and Inter but remember I won with Inter in the Champions League semi-final last season [Inter won the Champions League as well as Serie A] ? so I don't have any problems on that level with Barcelona. It is purely professional."

And as for the pressure at Real? "Listen, I'm Jose Mourinho. I have lived with enormous pressure ever since I became a coach," he said. "With all the responsibilities at a big club the pressure is on every day and being at Chelsea or Inter was not easy at all. "But I don't think there's more pressure on me here at Real Madrid than at any other clubs I have been with." Typically, on arriving at Madrid, Mourinho made an immediate statement of his authority when he ensured that veteran stars Raul and Guti were moved on.

And with usual pragmatism he resisted the option of signing a string of "Galacticos" and, much as he did when he first arrived at Chelsea, sought to underpin a team that already has the lavish talents of Cristiano Ronaldo and Kaka with some more practical signings. Mourinho said: "My main objective is to assemble the best squad that can win the titles. "I didn't think the club needed as many players as last summer. There were though some areas where I saw reinforcements as necessary. Everyone was talking about Maicon, Diego Milito and Frank Lampard but we bought Angel di Maria, Pedro Leon and Sami Khedira.

"They might not have the same star badge on their shoulders as others mentioned with Real Madrid but I promise you that these players will prove important in the season." sports@thenational.ae