Mourinho: I was wrong to stick my finger into Vilanova's eye

Real Madrid coach Jose Mourinho has conceded he was wrong to poke current Barcelona coach Tito Vilanova in the eye during a touchline altercation during the Spanish Supercopa last season.

 Occuring during the two-legged competition when Vilanova was then-assistant coach to Pep Guardiola, the incident happened in a tie which Los Merengues went on to lose 5-4 on aggregate.

 Mourinho subsequently had a ban as punishment lifted. The outspoken Portuguese has since admitted he lost control of himself at that moment, but revealed there was no bad blood that existed any longer between the two of them.

 "I should obviously not have done what I did," Mourinho told a press conference while on tour with his club in the United States. "Nevertheless, there was a whole story behind that that made me lose a little control."

 "The one who failed there was me, and I place plenty of emphasis these days on my players just to continue concentrating on games themselves and controlling their emotions.

 "There lie no problems between Tito [Vilanova] and myself. We greeted each other normally in subsequent matches. Thankfully, the story is over and we must just hope to avoid such instances in the future."

 With his thoughts shifting to the season ahead, the 49-year-old was quick to state his objectives of building upon their La Liga triumph by eventually winning the Champions League.

 "Last year, we were only eliminated on penalties in Europe. We're close, and if we keep trying, one day it will happen." The Santiago Bernabeu side crashed out to eventual runners-up Bayern Munich in the semi-finals.

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Mourinho plays down 5-2 loss to Benfica

Real Madrid coach Jose Mourinho has played down the importance of his side's 5-2 defeat to Benfica in the Eusebio Cup on Friday.

 La Liga champions Real fielded an under-strength team at Estadio da Luz and were surprised by a rampant second-half display from the hosts after going into the break with the scoreline at 2-2.

 After the match, Mourinho said he did not take a serious approach to the game and warned Benfica not to get carried away with the result.

 "There is no such thing as heavy defeats in friendly matches," he told reporters. "We knew the risk we were taking.

 Benfica did not wish to test new things, they played seriously.

 "I hope this victory will boost their morale, but in a balanced way. Because if they give too much importance to this result, it could be negative for them.

 "I hope to return here during the season, but to play an official match, and to win when winning matters."

 Meanwhile, Fabio Coentrao said his former team Benfica were worthy winners on his return, one year after leaving the Portuguese club.

 "It was a good game and a good spectacle," Coentrao said. "We did not expect this result, but we were missing many players and we had several others from the Castilla (second) team.

 But Benfica deserved to win. "I am a Benfica fan and I did not want to waste the opportunity to play in my stadium once again."

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Mourinho in Silva and Chelsea's target Lucas Moura raid

REAL MADRID will table a £30million bid for David Silva this week.

 Real boss Jose Mourinho wants the Manchester City star to add more creativity to his Spanish champions.

Silva was being pursued by the Madrid giants before he signed for Manchester City in a £24m deal from Valencia two years ago.

But Jose Mourinho failed to follow up their initial interest when he took over at the Bernabeu.

Now he has had a change of heart after seeing the way Silva, 25, helped City secure the Premier League title.

Madrid will also step up their attempts to beat Chelsea for the signature of Brazilian starlet Lucas Moura.

Blues owner Roman Abramovich personally sanctioned a £32m bid for the rising Sao Paulo star.

His agent insists Moura will not move until after the 2014 World Cup — but that claim has fallen on deaf ears in Madrid. champions.

 Silva was being pursued by the Madrid giants before he signed for Manchester City in a £24m deal from Valencia two years ago.

 But Jose Mourinho failed to follow up their initial interest when he took over at the Bernabeu. Now he has had a change of heart after seeing the way Silva, 25, helped City secure the Premier League title.

 Madrid will also step up their attempts to beat Chelsea for the signature of Brazilian starlet Lucas Moura.

 Blues owner Roman Abramovich personally sanctioned a £32m bid for the rising Sao Paulo star.

 His agent insists Moura will not move until after the 2014 World Cup — but that claim has fallen on deaf ears in Madrid.

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Mourinho again urges Madrid to sign Schweinsteiger

The Portuguese coach requested that Los Blancos sign the Germany international just after his arrival at the Santiago Bernabeu in 2010, and again last summer.

 The Liga giants failed to land the player on both occasions and it was their interest in Schweinsteiger which allegedly prompted Munich to offer the midfielder a new contract two years ago.

 He ultimately ended up committing himself to the Bavarians until 2016.

 But Mourinho, who is covering Euro 2012 as a television pundit, remains enamoured with the player who laid on two goals for Mario Gomez in Germany's 2-1 victory over Netherlands on Wednesday evening.

 With Lassana Diarra heading for the exit door and Nuri Sahin having failed to settle in the Spanish capital, the Portuguese is looking to strengthen his midfield and views Schweinsteiger as the ideal foil for Xabi Alonso.

 It is believed that Madrid could even use Sahin, the Bundesliga's Player of the Season for 2010-11, in a bid to persuade Munich to part company with their star man, who will return to action in Germany's clash with Denmark on Sunday.

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