Jose Mourinho is gearing up for his first El Clasico since 2013, but what has happened to the members of his Real Madrid side from back then?

It was a 2-1 win for Madrid over Barcelona that day, with Karim Benzema and Sergio Ramos scoring either side of one by Lionel Messi.

Mourinho is yet to face Barcelona again since, not even with the myriad of clubs he’s managed in the intervening years.

But he’s ready to lock horns with them once again in this weekend’s El Clasico. And with Barca flying in La Liga, Madrid go into the game with ground to make up.

So, what has happened to the last side Mourinho sent out in El Clasico, way back in March 2013?

Diego Lopez

It’s caught us slightly off guard that Lopez was still playing in La Liga as recently as three years ago. Not much, but credit to the keeper for continuing into his forties.

He finally hung up the gloves after his sole season back in the Spanish capital with Rayo Vallecano.

Lopez later linked up with Madrid again as a goalkeeping coach for the Castilla side. Things recently came full circle when Mourinho – whose faith in Lopez over club legend Iker Casillas was one of the big stories of his original Bernabeu reign – promoted him to the first-team staff temporarily when their usual goalkeeping coach was suspended.

Sergio Ramos

Speaking of players sticking at it into their forties, Ramos isn’t ready to pack it in just yet, but he’ll need to find a club sooner or later.

The legendary defender left Monterrey in December and has been without a club ever since.

Could Getafe give him the swansong he wants? They’ve already signed Dani Carvajal on a free and haven’t hidden their ambitions to get the band back together with Ramos.

“He could come, because it is something we have been looking into for some time,” club president Angel Torres told Radio Nacional. “He is on the list of potential signings.”

Whether it’s at Getafe or not, Ramos doesn’t deserve to go out with a whimper after the career he’s had. Watch this space.

Raphael Varane

Varane’s career didn’t exactly have a fitting end either. After leaving Manchester United, he only got to play once for Como before injury brought his playing career to a premature end.

Como kept Varane on after his retirement, finding a role for him as a board member. His main focuses are on youth and development.

“Transitioning from the field to the boardroom isn’t the end of my football journey; it’s a new beginning that I’m looking forward to,” he said at the time. “Joining the board of Como allows me to continue contributing to the sport while shaping its future.”

Pepe

Pepe brought the curtains down on his career in 2024 after a five-year second spell with Porto.

Mourinho spoke with him about joining his coaching staff in the summer but nothing has been finalised yet.

In the meantime, every now and then Pepe turns up to play in a Real Madrid Legends exhibition game.

Fabio Coentrao

Now here’s a curveball.

Forget finding a way to stay in football, Coentrao has become a full-time fisherman and shipowner after his retirement, continuing a family legacy.

“My father had a boat, he used to fish and I always went with him as a child,” he explained in 2021. “My life was the sea… the sea and fishing. Of course, I knew that football would one day end and that I should take a new direction in my life. And my happiness is this boat and this is the life I want to lead.”

But he found himself in hot water in 2025 when Portuguese authorities seized more than a ton of shellfish after accusing him of running an unlicensed business.

Michael Essien

Former Ghana international Essien has been an assistant coach for Danish side Nordsjaelland since 2020.

It’s not as random as it might sound. Nordsjaelland have a partnership with the Right to Dream Academy in his homeland, through which players like Mohammed Kudus, Simon Adingra and Caleb Yirenkyi have passed.

Essien has an important role in helping to develop each generation of talent – Ghanaian or otherwise – at Nordsjaelland.

Luka Modric

Mourinho infamously stuck up for Modric when he was suffering from a slow start to his Real Madrid career. Safe to say he was proven right in the long run.

Modric moved to Milan in 2025 after more than a decade of service to Madrid, playing more than 30 times in his debut Serie A season.

Ruben Amorim – who’s the same age as Modric at 41 – has used him in all seven of Milan’s league games so far this season too.

Jose Callejon

Callejon called time on his career in 2025 after a season in the third tier with Marbella, before briefly making a lower-league comeback with his hometown club Puerto Motril.

The winger is out of the spotlight for the time being.

Kaka

Following his retirement in 2017, Kaka has acted in ambassadorial roles with FIFA.

But he hasn’t ruled out one day becoming a manager, as he alluded to in an interview with Gazzetta Dello Sport earlier this year.

“Today, I work in sports marketing, and who knows what the future holds,” he explained. “My relationship with Milan has always been, and will always remain, special to me.”

He has been linked with a role on Carlo Ancelotti’s Brazil staff, stating in 2025: “I stopped playing in 2017. Since then, I have wanted to prepare myself. I took sports business courses at Harvard in the United States, I took a coaching course at the CBF [Brazilian Football Confederation], I have experience with the national team, the World Cup. If the opportunity arises, I am ready to return to serve the Brazilian national team.”

Alvaro Morata

A player promoted to the Madrid senior ranks by Mourinho, Morata has gone on to make a decent CV for himself, taking in spells with the likes of Juventus, Chelsea and Atletico Madrid.

But his best days are behind him and he’s currently on loan at Leganes from Como, where he only scored once in 30 games last season.

His return to Spain has seen him back in the Segunda Division for the first time since he was playing for Madrid’s Castilla side in 2012-13.

He’s yet to score for Leganes and got sent off for two bookings on his most recent outing.

Karim Benzema

One of the most high-profile free agents still out there right now.

Benzema agreed to rip up his contract with Al Hilal in the summer after scoring 10 goals from 16 games for them.

There were links with a return to Lyon in the summer, but the French club have since made it clear there was nothing in it.

“No, it was not close to happening,” Lyon sporting director Matthieu Louis-Jean clarified. “Of course, like you, I heard what was said on social networks. I know there was an issue getting out of his contract in Saudi Arabia, but no, it was more noise than reality. I don’t think it was feasible in any case.”

Benzema is still contractually tied to the Saudi Pro League until 2030, which muddies the water a bit. Retirement may be a more feasible option than a European comeback.