Mourinho says Betis a tough challenge for Real Madrid

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Los Blancos have made a strong start in LaLiga under Mourinho this season, starting with a 2-1 win over Espanyol before defeating Real Sociedad 4-1 and Malaga 4-0.

Only Barcelona has scored more goals than Madrid so far, with the Clasico rivals the only two teams to win all three of their opening games.

Betis, meanwhile, started its campaign with 1-0 wins over La Real and Valencia, though fell to a 5-2 defeat against Levante last time out.

The loss saw Manuel Pellegrini's tream drop to seventh, though Mourinho knows Madrid must put in a strong display to stay in the winner's circle.

"Real Madrid needs to be great; otherwise, it won't win," said Mourinho. "Betis is a very good team. Real Betis' recent results there are very telling. It's difficult to win there, and to do so, you have to be at your best; there's no other way.

"We’ll see how strong Betis and the Basque teams are; they're all very tough. For me, this is not an easy league at all.

"You can have some results that might give you the idea it's easy, like us scoring four against Malaga or Barcelona scoring five against Elche, but there's pressure here that doesn't exist in other leagues – the pressure to always win. 

"Here, it's tough. Here, there's this pressure week after week, where any result other than a win is not good. And this pressure weighs heavily on teams playing in a league with these characteristics."