Sergio Ramos has defended Jose Mourinho's recent comments suggesting he helped turn Real Madrid into Champions League contenders at a time when they were in "big trouble".

The Manchester United manager made his comments to Portuguese newspaper Expresso, where he added he is "terrible at picking teams".

His words garnered some raised eyebrows from those associated with Los Blancos, but Ramos has leaped to the defence of his former boss.

The legendary Real defender claimed that what Mourinho said was true, adding that he now has three Champions League medals since the Portuguese's tenure.

The Man United boss worked with Ramos at Real Madrid (
Image:
AFP)

Mourinho told Expresso: "I'm really bad at picking teams. Inter Milan were in big trouble. Real Madrid were in big trouble. Manchester United in big trouble.

"What does big trouble mean? It means that they are teams that want to win but are thousands of miles away from winning.

"The captain of Real Madrid [Sergio Ramos], who lifted the trophy just the other day and who is now a three-time European champion, had never played in a Champions League quarter-final when I arrived at Real Madrid in 2010."

The Portuguese claimed Real were in "big trouble" before he was named boss (
Image:
Getty)

As reported by Marca, Ramos, who some may have expected to contradict the comments and heap praise solely on current Real boss Zinedine Zidane, replied: "It is true what he says.

"When he arrived we started to pass the quarter-finals and now we have three Champions League."

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"In my career I have learned from each coach, some more than others."

Mourinho failed to win the Champions League during his time at Real Madrid, but has won it twice in his star-studded career.

Mourinho won the Europa League with Man United this season (
Image:
REUTERS)

He first lifted the trophy with Porto back in 2004 before he went on to win the prestigious accolade with Inter Milan in 2010.

This season the Portuguese guided Manchester United to both EFL Cup and Europa League success, securing Champions League football for next season.

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