Real Madrid boss Zinedine Zidane admits rumours of a Jose Mourinho return ‘bother’ him

Real Madrid lost 1-0 to Mallorca at the weekend and are bottom of Champions League Group A

Zinedine Zidane has admitted that rumours of a Jose Mourinho return to Real Madrid do bother him.

The French manager has been put under further pressure by Saturday’s defeat to Mallorca.

Speculation about Mourinho, a favourite of club president Florentino Perez, returning to the Santiago Beranbeu has persisted throughout the beginning of the season, and Zidane admits that the rumours do bother him.

“In football, people forget what you’ve done in the past,” Zidane said ahead of his side’s Champions League game against Galatasaray.

“The important thing is the present…I’m not going to say it doesn’t bother me what is being said about other coaches, because it does.

“But what I have to do as a coach is to give everything, get the players to do the same, to give everything – and that’s all I can do.”

Madrid slipped off the top of La Liga with that Mallorca defeat, with rivals Barcelona taking their place at the top of the table.

The pair were supposed to meet this weekend, but El Clasico has been postponed due to the ongoing protests in Catalonia.

The focus, then, is on the midweek game with Galatasaray, with Madrid travelling to Turkey bottom of Group A after defeat to PSG and a home draw against Club Brugge.

Asked if defeat could mean the end of his second tenure in charge of the club, Zidane replied: “I don’t know. You can’t ask me that. All I can do is try and be here as long as I can. I want to be here forever.

“It’s a great game to play in, a great stadium, Champions League…we know what the situation is and we’re going to try and win.

“We know what the situation is. We started badly in the Champions [League] but we’ve got a chance tomorrow to prove ourselves and that’s what we are going to try and do.

“I’ve been here 18 years as a player and a coach. I know how things are. Pressure is always with you so we have to go out and prepare well for the game.”