Raphael Varane says he tricked Jose Mourinho into starting him in Real Madrid’s epic Champions League win over Manchester City in 2012 – after the boss had asked the defender why he was “useless”.
Having failed to feature in Madrid’s first four matches of 2012/13, Varane, who had struggled to establish himself in front of legendary centre-backs Sergio Ramos and Pepe in his first campaign at the club, made his first appearance of his second season at home to City after a surprising exchange with Mourinho.
“He’s someone I really respect – he’s charismatic and he said to me straight out: ‘But why are you useless?’” Varane told The Bridge, via RMC Sport.
“I looked at him [surprised], because he had actually just stung me, and said that it wasn’t easy because I wasn’t playing and that it was a complicated start to the season.
“He asked me if I was ready to play the following Wednesday. It was against City at home. A bit of a bluff – I said yes even though I wasn’t ready. I wasn’t physically ready and mentally I wasn’t confident, but I said yes, I was ready. And that was it.”
⏪ En 2012, el Real Madrid perdía contra el City 1-2 en el minuto 87 y Mourinho terminó tirándose por el césped para celebrar la remontada. pic.twitter.com/XfzFFJJLPQ
— madridistaReal (@RMadridistaReal) February 17, 2025
Raphael Varane: Madrid ‘would have sent me on loan’
Signed as an 18-year-old from French side Lens in 2011, Varane had started three group stage matches and a knockout stage second leg against APOEL Nicosia in which Madrid were 3-0 ahead from the first leg in his debut campaign.
An encounter with City represented by far the toughest test he had faced in Europe at that stage, with the likes of Carlos Tevez, Samir Nasri, David Silva and Edin Dzeko featuring for the reigning English champions at the time.
“[Mourinho] told me ‘OK’ and he left,” Varane told the show, which is co-hosted by current Madrid and France star Aurelien Tchouameni.
“In training, I gave it my all and the next day, the day before the match, I saw that I was in the team and that Sergio Ramos was on the bench.
“I told myself that I was in Spain at 19 and… if I messed up, it was over and it was dead. Everything that was going to happen after that no longer existed – I would have been sent out on loan.”
💥⚽ @raphaelvarane is lethal in the opposition box!
📺 Watch ALL of Varane’s @LaLigaEN goals: https://t.co/9eOJpj3ui9#RMLiga | #HalaMadrid pic.twitter.com/Rk91xInPoK— Real Madrid C.F. 🇬🇧🇺🇸 (@realmadriden) February 8, 2021
Real Madrid vs Man City
In the first of a catalogue of epic matches between the teams in Europe since then, Varane played throughout in central defence alongside Pepe as Madrid recovered from twice falling behind after the break to win 3-2 through Karim Benzema’s 87th-minute equaliser and Blancos all-time top scorer Cristiano Ronaldo’s 90th-minute winner.
“I played the match, I had cramps everywhere, but I had a good performance,” recalled Varane. “After that, I got back into it, and the season started off as planned.
“In the second half of the season, I had the best half of my career. [Mourinho] got me back into the swing of things; he’s the kind of coach who pushed me to get the best out of myself.”
Varane Real Madrid stats
Having won the first of his three La Liga titles in his first year with Madrid, Varane became a Champions League winner four times between 2014 and 2018 among a haul of honours on his way to become a club legend.
Only that first league title came under Mourinho, who was at Madrid between 2010 and 2013. “I can only be grateful [to him],” said Varane, who left Madrid in 2021 for Manchester United – managed by Mourinho between 2016 and 2018 – before retiring in 2024.
“When I arrived, he told me: ‘I only want one thing: that for an hour and a half every day, you give everything. The rest, don’t worry – you’ll progress, I’ll take care of it. Relax.’
“And the first season, I must have played… the matches where we had already qualified, the cup matches. He made me progress little by little and didn’t throw me in at the deep end right away.”