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I laid foundations for Real Madrid's La Decima - Mourinho

Mourinho: I laid foundations for Real Madrid's La Decima
The Chelsea boss admits he thought he would win the Champions League with Los Blancos but claims he was happy when Carlo Ancelotti won an historic tenth title
Jose Mourinho claims he laid the foundations for Real Madrid's historic Champions League triumph in 2014, the year after he departed the Spanish capital.

The Portuguese left Real in the summer of 2013 after guiding Los Blancos to three consecutive Champions League semi-finals, only for his successor Carlo Ancelotti to go one better and win La Decima - Real's tenth European Cup crown.

The Chelsea boss, who won the competition with both Porto and Inter, claims he was responsible for positive "change" at the Santiago Bernabeu but admitted he thought he would win the Champions League for a third time with Real.

"When I arrived at Real Madrid they hadn't reached the quarter-finals for almost a decade and when we got Lyon in the last 16, the club was in panic," the 52-year-old told UEFA.com. 

"We went through that barrier and the club changed, the players changed. We thought we would win the competition. But in three consecutive years we reached the semi-finals, and for different reasons we didn't manage to reach the final." 

Despite his failure to win the competition with Real, Mourinho said he was happy with Ancelotti's feat.

He added: "The one that was really difficult was the one we lost on penalties [to Bayern]. It was a big disappointment, but when Real Madrid won it in 2014 the club deserved it. The club deserved it totally, and I was happy".
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