Jose Mourinho accused the media of twisting his words as he insisted Alvaro Arbeloa is "one of his boys" and he backed the Real Madrid boss to succeed.

Mourinho reunites with Los Blancos on Wednesday, as Benfica host the Spanish giants in the Champions League.

Benfica sit 29th in the standings, and must take three points in order to stand a chance of qualifying for the knockout stage play-offs.

Last week, Mourinho caused a stir by seemingly suggesting that huge European clubs were giving jobs to unqualified coaches, but on Tuesday, he defended his comments, as he backed Arbeloa – who he managed at Madrid – to be a success.

"You journalists have a quality I greatly respect, which is steering things in the direction that suits your interests," Mourinho told reporters.

"The question I was asked was whether it surprised me that [Luciano] Spalletti was coaching Juventus. And my answer was in relation to a very objective question: whether Spalletti had the qualifications to coach Juve.

"That was the question, and the answer is in defence of Spalletti. Obviously, it doesn't surprise me that Spalletti is coaching Juve, or that coaches with impressive resumes are coaching top clubs.

"What surprises me is when a coach with no track record is coaching a big club. It's a thought I consider normal.

"The Italians have used it to talk about [Inter boss Cristian] Chivu, and you Spaniards have used it to talk about Arbeloa. But it's simply a matter of both Chivu and Arbeloa being my boys.

"They're not just former players of mine, but special former players. Speaking of Alvaro, from a human perspective, in terms of personal relationships and empathy, he's one of my all-time favourite players.

"He obviously wasn't the best player I had at Real Madrid, but he's certainly one of the best.

"He's the last person I could put pressure on, but you all are very intelligent in the way you do your job. I just hope Alvaro does very well and has a fantastic coaching career."

Arbeloa succeeded another of Mourinho's former players, Xabi Alonso, at the helm at Madrid.

And Mourinho is confident Alonso will swiftly be back in work, despite his Madrid tenure lasting only seven months.

"Xabi is another one of my boys, yes. He's another one I only have positive memories of," Mourinho said.

"I had the thrill, and I'll have it again tomorrow, of playing against Alvaro, of playing against Xabi.

"What he did at [Bayer] Leverkusen was a great joy. It was a great joy when he went on to coach Real Madrid. Afterwards, what happened, how it ended, why it ended, honestly, it's something that doesn't interest me.

"In football, it's difficult for anything to surprise me. Anything can happen. But I'm sure his career will go in another direction and that he'll be very happy, because he has shown, especially at Leverkusen, the level of coaching he can reach."