( CNN ) -- Jose Mourinho is confident that Real Madrid can break Barcelona 's dominance in Spain in his first season in charge of the nine-time European champions . The capital club won the last of its 31 La Liga crowns in 2008 , but Mourinho exclusively told CNN that he believed he could continue the success that saw him win titles in his native Portugal , England and Italy . `` I hope so . I did it with Porto , I did it with Inter , with Chelsea we did n't win the Champions League but we won two consecutive Premierships so , why not to do it with Real ? '' the 47-year-old told CNN World Sport 's Patrick Snell . `` It 's a big club , it 's a club with lots of good players . In this moment they have the motivation because they win nothing in the last years , but of course it 's not easy , because we have real opponents , and we have to be the team . '' Mourinho has a big history with Barcelona , where he was an assistant coach under Bobby Robson and then Louis van Gaal from 1996-2000 . He had several big European clashes with the Catalan club while in charge of Chelsea , and his Inter side beat Pep Guardiola 's titleholders in last season 's Champions League semis before going on to defeat Van Gaal 's Bayern in the final . `` You know , everybody speaks about our second game in Barcelona where we had a very defensive approach . But they forget in the first match in the Champions League with Inter we smashed them , we scored three goals and we could have scored four or five , so I think the problem with Barcelona is more psychological than other things , '' Mourinho said . `` Lots of teams are afraid of them , they are afraid to attack them . We did it . We won it , and after that in the second leg , it 's a semifinal , it 's a Champions League semifinal -- it 's not the moment to play the beautiful game , it 's the moment to make history . Carvalho completes Real Madrid move . `` And we made history , we reached the final , and after that in the final , it was an easy match for us . Bayern was a good team , but we were so solid by a psychological point of view , that Inter did it , and it looked like it was easy , and it was n't . '' When Mourinho arrived in London in 2004 , he famously quipped to the British press that he was `` The Special One '' -- a nickname that has stuck wherever he has gone since . `` But you know , I won lots of things . I won 17 titles in the past 10 years , and I 'm one of the three coaches that won two Champions Leagues with two different teams , so , I 'm one of the good ones , '' he said . `` But to say I 'm the Special One , I prefer not to say that , I just say ' I have a nice system ' . '' Mourinho will have to juggle a star-studded squad which has failed to equal the sum of its parts in the past two seasons , with Real 's opening match away to Mallorca on August 29 . Injury blow for Real star Kaka . He has brought in internationals such as Angel Di Maria and Ricardo Carvalho , but will be without Kaka for up to four months after the Brazil playmaker need knee surgery on his return from the World Cup in South Africa . `` We all know that the knee was a real problem , and after that the problem he has in the groin will be solved when the knee problem is solved , '' Mourinho said . `` And now we know until December-January we do n't have him , so we have to prepare the team , organize the team without Kaka . But he will be back , and he will be back at 100 percent , and at 100 percent he 's one of the best and we need him . '' Cristiano Ronaldo almost single-handedly kept Real in the Spanish title race last season with his goals and inspirational performances , and Mourinho said he was looking forward to working with his compatriot -- the most expensive player in the world . `` He 's fantastic , and the way he works speaks for itself . He 's a boy that works very , very hard every day -- lots of ambition , he wants to improve all the time , '' Mourinho said . `` So with the potential he has , I just hope he keeps going . Because I can not demand more than he 's giving . '' While Real spent $ 350 million on Ronaldo and other players this time last year , one position that has never been in doubt is that of goalkeeper Iker Casillas , who captained Spain to a historic first World Cup title last month . He joined `` Los Merengues '' as a nine-year-old in 1990 , and will this season pass 400 first-team appearances . `` I believe in this club -- I 'm lucky to be Madrid born and bred , '' Casillas told CNN . `` To live in the city , to play for the club , this is home for me . It would be hard to ever consider leaving this club . It has helped shape me , it 's developed me as a person on so many levels since I was so young . '' While Real 's expensive squad has a reputation of being a group of talented individuals who struggle to gel , Casillas said the players were focused on ending Barcelona 's run of two consecutive titles . `` We 're all unified as one . We 're hard-working , humble people . People who fight hard , willing to struggle for the cause . Whether it 's Cristiano , Kaka , Casillas , Canales -- we 're all in it together , and that 's what 's important '' Casillas said Spain 's long-awaited success was a dream come true for his generation of players . `` What it means is so significant . We succeeded in realizing a dream we all had since we were young kids . All footballers have a dream to win the World Cup for their country and I as a youngster was no different , '' he said . `` Look at who we were up against . Maradona 's Argentina , Germany , Italy , France and Brazil . We had to succeed against all of them ! Did we ever really think we would do it given all the bad luck we 'd had in the past ? But look in the end , we were successful ! ''
Big - spending Real Madrid seeking to win first Spanish league title since 2008 . Jose ##p returns to Barcelona , where he was Barcelona 's assistant coach for four years . He believes he can repeat last season 's success , when he won two titles with Inter Milan . Goalkeeper Iker Pérez ' expensive squad is focused on winning La Liga crown .