On the eve of Roma's Europa League match against Real Sociedad, Jose Mourinho was asked about his future and whether he would be interested in taking charge of the Brazilian national team

The Portuguese was at the center of the debate after the controversy between Gianluca Prestianni and Vinicius. He defended the balance and demanded the presumption of innocence. "I don't want to wear either the white shirt of Real Madrid or the red shirt of Benfica," he said. He did not want to support his own team by default or attack the rival by inertia.

But he left the warning loud and clear. "If it is proven that my player did not respect these principles, which are mine and those of Benfica, his career with me is over." There is affection for the player. There is no unconditional safety net. "If he is indeed guilty, I will not look at him in the same way and with me it is over," he insisted.

He also pointed to the accelerated trial. To the noise. And he said a sharp phrase: "I am not a lawyer, but I am not ignorant either. Is the presumption of innocence a human right or not?" For the coach, some people forgot the basics in the midst of the storm.

Sidny and Vinicius entered the scene for the shirt exchange after the duel in Madrid. Mourinho normalised it: "It is not to be criticised. It is normal in big matches and with stratospheric players," he said. However, he did leave a caveat. "It was avoidable, depending on what happened during the week," he said. Context matters.

There was more. He also explained why he followed the match at the Bernabeu from the coach. "The fact that I don't speak at a press conference is something I always do. If it was the first time... but staying on the bus is a normal thing because I had four screens and I saw the game differently. Also, who knows if in the future it can't be like in other sports where the coach is in a different position."

The second part of the appearance turned to his future. And that's where the tone rose. He was annoyed by speculation about a possible return to Real Madrid. He was direct.

"When they said that the game against Real Madrid was an opportunity for me to return, they let slip something important. In this room I said that it was possible to say no to Florentino Perez. Do you think I would say that if I wanted to leave Benfica to go to Real Madrid? Do you think I'm stupid?"

It didn't stop there. "I was very objective. I said I didn't want to go to Real Madrid and that I wanted to stay. I have many flaws, but I'm not stupid."

And he set a condition. "I want to stay to play one championship, not two. Now we are playing the real and the virtual one, and I only want to play one," he said. A phrase that points to that parallel environment that, in his opinion, distorts the competition.

"I want to respect my contract with Benfica. And if the club wants to renew it for more years, I will sign without discussing a single comma. But I only want to play one championship, not two".

There was time to look back, to remember the journey, from the hard stumble at home against Qarabag to standing up to Real Madrid in three games. And one last dig, without anaesthesia: "Criticism says more about the critics than it does about the criticised".

About Arbeloa

About Arbeloa, he also said: "I love Alvaro (Arbeloa) and I will continue to do so, but I think the one who took the right position was me and not him. You have to have a balanced position. If being balanced is not to defend mine, I did not attack the other".