We couldn’t let Special chance pass us by, says Real chief

REAL MADRID president Florentino Perez felt the opportunity to bring Jose Mourinho to the club was one that could not be missed as the Spanish giants look to become the dominant force in Europe once again.

Speaking at a press conference last night following a board meeting at the Bernabeu, Perez confirmed the widely-anticipated news that Madrid had parted company with coach Manuel Pellegrini and intend to appoint Mourinho in his place.

Madrid will have to wait until Mourinho resolves his contract negotiations with Inter Milan, with whom he has a deal until June 2012, to confirm the Portuguese as their new coach.

However, Madrid are closing in on the hugely-successful 47-year-old and Perez believes he is the right man to take the club forward.

“I am willing to recognise that I have committed some errors, (but) at this moment I am absolutely convinced the incorporation of Mourinho, who is one of the best coaches in the world, if not the best, is an opportunity this Madrid, which fights permanently for excellence, couldn’t let pass by,” said the Madrid chief.

Perez employed six different coaches during his first reign at the club between 2000 and 2006, and if Mourinho takes charge he will be the 11th manager Madrid have had in the last seven years.

During that time Madrid have won just two major trophies and are no longer the top dogs either in Spain or Europe.

In La Liga arch rivals Barcelona have won back-to-back titles while in the European Cup, a competition Madrid have won a record nine times, they have fallen at the last-16 stage in each of the last six seasons.

When Perez returned to the Madrid presidency last summer it was his aim to take the Whites back to the top of European football, announcing a “spectacular project” to achieve that ambition.

Perez wasted no time trying to turn that goal into reality, spending around €250million on bringing in the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo, Kaka, Karim Benzema and Xabi Alonso.

The man tasked with turning all those newcomers into a winning team was Pellegrini, a coach who had performed wonders during five seasons at Villarreal but had not won silverware at the Yellow Submarine.

Pellegrini started well enough in the Bernabeu hot-seat, winning his first six Primera Division and Champions League games.

However, things started to go wrong in October when they lost to Sevilla in La Liga and AC Milan in Europe before suffering a humiliating 4-0 defeat to third-tier Alcorcon in the first leg of their opening Copa del Rey tie.

After that came the disappointing early Champions League exit at the hands of Lyon, a competition Madrid had placed a huge amount of stock in with the final being held at their Bernabeu home.

Madrid were much better in La Liga, pushing Barcelona all the way to the final weekend and accumulating 96 points and scoring 102 goals.

However that was not enough to wrest the title off Barca, though, with Pep Guardiola’s side finishing three points clear of the capital club, a situation that ultimately sealed Pellegrini’s fate.