Real Madrid defender Raphael Varane has recalled how Jose Mourinho simply threw him into the starting XI when he first arrived.

Mourinho saw off competition from Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson to sign Varane from Lens. But by his own admission, the Frenchman struggled when he first arrived.

He told GQ: "I had a strange moment, it was at the Mourinho stage, I could not do anything right at the beginning of the season and I did not know why, I did not play well in practice and I did not play games either.

"He asked me: 'What's wrong with you, why are you not okay, why are not you at your level?': I replied: 'I do not know, I'm trying, but things do not come out, I'm missing some confidence'.

"Three days later, at the age of 19, he put me in the starting line up against Manchester City [at the Bernabéu, the first match of the group stage of the Champions 12-13] It was a very complicated game and I do not know if Mourinho knew my personality, but I took it as a challenge.

"The match went very well and from there everything started to go better, I changed everything around."