Jose Mourinho returns to Madrid derby 13 years after Atletico turning point

Jose Mourinho will take charge of his first Madrid derby in 13 years when Real Madrid visit Atletico Madrid on Sunday, returning to a fixture he last experienced on the night Diego Simeone finally broke Atletico's long-standing inferiority complex against their neighbours.

The rivalry has produced more than 300 meetings, with Real Madrid still holding a commanding historical advantage.

Yet the modern derby tells a very different story from the one Mourinho knew during his first spell at the Santiago Bernabeu.

When the Portuguese last faced Atletico as Real boss, the Colchoneros had gone 14 years without beating their city rivals.

That drought ended in dramatic fashion in the 2013 Copa del Rey final at the Bernabeu.

Cristiano Ronaldo opened the scoring for Real, Diego Costa equalised and Miranda headed the winner in extra time as Atletico completed a 2-1 victory.

For Simeone, it was much more than another trophy.

It was the night Atletico proved they could beat Real again.

Simeone's 2013 win ended 14 years of Atletico derby pain

Before that final, Atletico's record against Real had become increasingly difficult to ignore.

The red-and-whites had gone 25 consecutive meetings without victory between 1999 and 2013, a run which reflected the wider difference between the two clubs at the time.

Real were competing annually for the biggest prizes in Europe and had assembled another expensive, star-studded squad.

Atletico, by contrast, had endured relegation at the start of the century and spent years rebuilding their position among Spain's elite.

Simeone's arrival in 2011 began to change that mentality.

By the time Atletico arrived at the Bernabeu for the 2013 Copa del Rey final, they had already become more aggressive, organised and difficult to overwhelm.

That night provided the breakthrough.

Ronaldo gave Mourinho's team the lead, but Costa levelled after an excellent Radamel Falcao move before Miranda struck during extra time.

The victory ended Atletico's derby drought and gave Simeone one of the defining results of his early reign.

What followed confirmed it was not an isolated upset.

Atletico won La Liga the following season and established themselves as a consistent challenger to Real and Barcelona.

The rivalry also spread onto European football's biggest stage.

Real beat Atletico in the 2014 Champions League final after Sergio Ramos's famous late equaliser in Lisbon, before defeating them again on penalties in the 2016 final.

Those defeats were painful for Atletico, but reaching two Champions League finals against Real underlined how far the balance had shifted from the years when merely beating their neighbours had become a major obstacle.

Mourinho returns to a very different Madrid rivalry

Mourinho now returns to a derby which no longer carries the same psychological dynamic.

Real still dominate the historical record and remain the more successful club domestically and in Europe.

Atletico, though, have spent more than a decade proving that individual derbies are no longer foregone conclusions.

Simeone remains in charge and has overseen one of the longest managerial tenures in elite European football.

His Atletico have won league titles, European trophies and repeatedly disrupted Real's domestic ambitions.

That provides an intriguing backdrop to Sunday's meeting at the Riyadh Air Metropolitano.

For Mourinho, the opponent is familiar but the context is not.

During his first spell at Madrid, Atletico's challenge was to prove that they could compete with Real on equal terms.

Now they enter derbies expecting to do exactly that.

The personal history also adds another layer.

Mourinho and Simeone represent contrasting managerial personalities, but both have built careers around intensity, defensive organisation and emotional control in high-pressure matches.

Their last Madrid derby ended with Simeone celebrating one of the most important victories of his Atletico career.

Thirteen years later, Mourinho is back on the opposite touchline.

The result on Sunday will not redefine the rivalry on its own.

But the contrast with 2013 is clear.

Mourinho left the Madrid derby just as Simeone was beginning to change it.

He returns to find an Atletico side that no longer needs to prove it belongs in the same conversation.