Real Madrid defender Pepe has admitted that he is relieved that Jose Mourinho's time in charge of the club did not last long.
The current Manchester United boss was in charge of the 11-time European champions between 2010 and 2013, winning La Liga in 2012, a year after claiming the Copa del Rey.
But he was not able to deliver the Decima - the club's fabled 10th European Cup triumph - and the El Clasicos with Barcelona were ill-tempered, partly due to Mourinho's influence and creation of a siege mentality.
Pepe, who is not the most popular player in the world, felt that Real were particularly hated during the Mourinho era.
"Under Mourinho, people hated us when we went out onto the pitch. It lasted three years and thank God it went very quick. Things changed when Carlo Ancelotti arrived. You could see people treated us differently again," he told Cadena SER.
Ancelotti delivered La Decima in 2014, before Real won the Champions League again in 2016 under Zinedine Zidane.
Pepe praised the France legend and contrasted him with Mourinho.
"What happened with Mourinho is now in the past. I stayed strong and got over it. I maintained my high level at Madrid. Mourinho and Zidane are very different, one could say they are opposites. But it's not like one is bad and the other is good."
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