“At a club like Real Madrid, winning matches shouldn’t trigger a frenzy of euphoria,” José Mourinho insisted after watching his team breeze to a 3–0 triumph over Valencia on Saturday. Yet, that particular victory still held some significance for the Portuguese boss.

By amassing a 97th win in his 126th fixture in the competition, Mourinho now stands alone as the manager with the best win rate (77%) in the history of La Liga, surpassing his long-standing rival at Barcelona, Pep Guardiola.

“I had no idea about these records,” Mourinho admitted when caught off guard with the glittering statistics. “It’s a source of pride. La Liga has seen some top-tier coaches, so to reach these kinds of numbers is something to be proud of.”

Managers With the Best Win Rate in La Liga History

1. José Mourinho: 77.0% (97/126)
2. Pep Guardiola: 76.3% (116/152)
3. Carlo Ancelotti: 71.1% (162/228)
4. Xavi Hernández: 69.6% (71/102)
5. Zinédine Zidane: 67.8% (124/183)
6. Luis Enrique: 66.4% (101/152)

Data via MisterChip. Only managers with more than 100 matches in the competition are included.

Guardiola and Mourinho stand alone even among that aforementioned top tier. The former Barcelona colleagues inspired each other to new heights from opposite dugouts in an increasingly toxic Clásico divide at the turn of the last decade, with Mourinho leading Real Madrid to a record-toppling 2011–12 title to belatedly thwart Guardiola’s modern dream team of Lionel Messi, Xavi Hernández, Andrés Iniesta & Co.

Mourinho had been expected to romp to another title after Guardiola stepped down in 2012 but his Madrid side ended up giving in to the strain of his own fierce demands. It had appeared as though Mourinho’s La Liga career would conclude with an inferior record to Guardiola when he left himself in 2013, but the self-styled ‘special one’ has wound the clock back with a staggering new run 13 years later.

Madrid sauntered to victory over Valencia on Saturday to amass an eighth straight victory across all competitions for the first time since 2022. Mourinho not only has his side winning, but playing a dominant brand of soccer with repeatable traits that points toward sustained success.

Mourinho Delivers Exciting Prediction After Record Run

“The credit goes to the players,” Mourinho deflected this weekend. “I don’t think there’s one single ‘key’ to what they’re achieving; they are delivering both individually and as a team, and there has been significant growth.

“Today, we enjoyed a lot of possession and didn’t have to do much defensive work, but whenever we lost the ball, the reaction was excellent. There was a moment in the second half where [Kylian] Mbappé sprinted back to cover [Arda] Güler’s position—they are showing great solidarity. In my experience, this team has a very promising feel to it.”

Madrid’s current run has propelled them to second in the Champions League table and taken them within a win of both Barcelona and Atlético Madrid, their two chief rivals for the La Liga title. Yet, if this is to be a promising campaign, Mourinho is all too aware that there can’t be too much celebration in November.

“It just tells me that we need to win the next match,” the wily coach concluded. “In this life, nice statistics are soon forgotten; we don’t live off the numbers of the past.”