Jose Mourinho watched his Manchester United side slip to a 2-1 defeat against Real Madrid in the Super Cup on Tuesday night - but the Special One still has a lot of love for his troops.

Romelu Lukaku's second-half effort proved just a consolation as the Champions League winners came out on top in Skopje thanks to goals from Casemiro and Isco.

However, Mourinho has a cabinet full of silverware from his time in charge of Porto, Chelsea, Inter Milan and Real Madrid.

And the Portuguese boss insists it's the Red Devils, who he guided to League Cup and Europa League success last season, who have provided him the most satisfaction.

Jose Mourinho arrives back in the early hours of the morning (
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Eamonn and James Clarke)
Marcus Rashford checks his phone (
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Eamonn and James Clarke)
New boy Nemaja Matic arrives home (
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Eamonn and James Clarke)
Romelu Lukaku scored Manchester United's only goal in the Super Cup final (
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Eamonn and James Clarke)
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"I'm so happy to be the manager of these guys, I told them a few days ago that during my long career I never had a group that I liked so much, like I like them," he said.

"I'm really happy to be with them and I’m going to fight with them all the way.

"I have to say that I’m really happy because although we lost a game and we lost a cup, we didn’t lose the season.

"The season is here, the season started today but our Premier League starts on Sunday for us and we are better now than when we were last season when we won the Europa League."

The squad arrived back in Manchester in the early hours (
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Eamonn and James Clarke)
David De Gea failed to keep Real Madrid at bay (
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Eamonn and James Clarke)
Juan Mata, Eric Bailly and Ander Herrera (
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Eamonn and James Clarke)
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REUTERS)

Mourinho was handed his medal by UEFA officials, but immediately took it off before watching Madrid claim the crown.

He then proceeded to head over to travelling supporters, picking out a young fan and ensuring he was handed the medal.

After the match, he declared: "Sometimes when I win I don't keep the medals, so imagine when I lose.

"And for me the medal will go to some place in my house and for that kid it's for sure something to keep and remember.

"It was a little kid in a Manchester United shirt, I have no idea where he comes from, so I think for the kid it is something he will never forget and for me, I repeat when I win they don't mean much, imagine when I lose.'

Similarly, the ex-Chelsea boss threw his winners' medal into the crowd following their second Premier League triumph in 2006.

He also gave away his medal following the 2015 Community shield.

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Mourinho also conceded United's hopes of signing Gareth Bale were over, after seeing the Welshman start for Los Blancos in Skopje.

“Clearly the club wants him, the manager wants him and he wants the club, so for me it’s game over – even before it started,” Mourinho told BT Sport.

“It’s game over clearly because everybody knows he is going to stay.”

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