Casillas lifts the lid on his bust-up with Mourinho at Real Madrid

The legendary Los Blancos goalkeeper has revealed the story of how his relationship with Mourinho deteriorated in the Spanish capital.

Iker Casillas has revealed how his ‘love-hate relationship’ with Jose Mourinho deteriorated to the point of no return during their time together at Real Madrid.

The now-Tottenham boss coached the Spanish giants between 2010 and 2013, winning 127 of his 178 games (D28 L23) in charge. One LaLiga, Copa del Rey, and Spanish Supercup titles also came his way.

But Mourinho’s stint in Madrid didn’t come without controversy amid a very public dispute with Casillas, whom he dropped from goal.

CASILLAS Y LA ACUSACIÓN DE TOPO
-"Tenía que haber hablado con él, de eso sí me arrepiento. Asumí como que yo era el topo".
-Mourinho: "Probablemente sí, ahí la comunicación no ha sido muy importante". #ColgarLasAlas pic.twitter.com/hIoQjm2XkC

— Fútbol en Movistar+ (@MovistarFutbol) December 18, 2020

The Spanish World Cup winner, in turn, was no fan of Mourinho’s and wasn’t impressed in how the Portuguese poked the late Tito Vilanova in the eye during an El Clasico between Real Madrid and Barcelona.

“There was a players’ strike in August 2011,” Casillas said on ‘Colgar las Alas’ for Movistar+.

“As the captain, I spoke to my teammates and we decided that we weren’t going to play which meant the opening games of the season wouldn’t go ahead.

“We said a couple of things that neither of us liked and took badly but it was left there. Then came the Super Cup.

“We gave a terrible impression. There were scraps, battles, giving your heart and soul… but the other things (poking Vilanova’s eye) – that was the kind of thing you might see at other clubs – tacky clubs, who need to resort to that sort of thing, and that is not for us.

“We played Levante, a game in which we fell further behind to Barcelona. That was the moment when we stopped talking.

“We were alone together in a room and he starts telling me that I should be more open and honest.

SE NOS ROMPIÓ EL AMOR…@IkerCasillas y Mourinho, cuando todo se torció.

Viernes a las 22.00h, #ColgarLasAlas pic.twitter.com/agaVK8Wjec

— Fútbol en Movistar+ (@MovistarFutbol) December 17, 2020

“I told him that I didn’t think it was right for a professional to poke another coach in the eye. Someone from the press department at the club grabbed us and told us to calm down, to talk it through. We sat down again and said what we had to say face to face.

“There were two or three games [in 2012-13] in which we didn’t play well. That was when the old resentment resurfaced, when we fell behind in the table.

“Our relationship deteriorated. It had reached the point of no return by the third year.

“Up until the second year it was a love-hate relationship. He told me he didn’t think I was focused, he didn’t think I was playing well… I thought that maybe it was true. I had other things on my mind that I was worried about at the time.”

Although Casillas also stated Mourinho made contact after the goalkeeper’s heart attack in 2019 to send him his best wishes.