Alejandro Menendez Garcia is just not about East Bengal. He is much more than that.

For someone who was the head coach at the Castilla, Real Madrid’s B team, Alejandro takes immense pride when he says how sessions with Jose Mourinho and Arrigo Sacchi helped him grow.

Jose Mourinho was the coach of the senior team from 2010-13 when the Spaniard was working at the Castilla.

“He was kind enough to let me show his work. I have seen him talking about tactics, discussing strategies. He has a fantastic communication skill, which I think is in-born, and an amazing clarity of mind. To me he is the best coach,” the East Bengal coach told The Telegraph through assistant coach and interpreter Joseph Ferre.

The interview was organised by Quess, East Bengal’s investor.

“Then sessions with Arrigo Sacchi, who was the director of football from 2004-05, were an eye-opener for me. Talking about Arrigo gives me goosebumps.

“He spoke about his idea of football. He once narrated to me how his AC Milan dismantled Barcelona in the 1994 Champions League final… How he used Marco van Basten to be the first one to do the pressing job against the Catalans and then Franco Baresi, the central defender, kept on putting pressure from the back.

“When Arrigo is talking to you about what happened in the Milan changing room before the Champions League final and how he plotted the 4-0 rout, it was a big lesson for me. I will not forget that in my life,” the Spaniard added.

Alejandro joined Madrid as the head coach of under-19 team in 2005 and in the first year itself they were the champions.

“When I arrived in Madrid in 2005, the under-19 team had not won the title for nine years. We won the championship and the next year we finished second. The most important thing I got from Madrid was the experience. I was constantly brainstorming with different first-team coaches like Mourinho, Fabio Capello (2006-07) and Manuel Pellegrini (2009-10)…

“Jorge Valdano, the former general manager of Madrid and Sacchi. Madrid is a university where I did my MBA in football.

“Very few coaches are that lucky to work with so many legends,” he said.

The Spaniard said working at the Castilla was a huge thing for him.

“In Castilla, only ex-Madrid players who are superstars in their own right get the chance to be the coach. I never played in La Liga so that was a huge achievement. I coached players in Castilla who went on to become big players. During my tenure, eight players from the B team became first-team players.

“Why I am saying this is because in Madrid, it’s very difficult to break into the first team from the B team. Dani Carvajal, Nacho, Marcos Alonso and Alvaro Morata are some of the players who played under me at the Castilla. They were young but extremely talented. Dealing with them was a memorable learning process for me,” he said.

According to Alejandro, Castilla and La Masia, Barca’s famous youth academy, are different in their respective approaches to the game.

“Madrid always try to develop players who can make an impact, who can change the game… Special players who are different from the others. They zoom in on five-six players who have special abilities. In La Masia, they try to develop the passing style of the players to be more in sync with the first-team’s playing style. It’s two different football philosophies.”

In football, they say it’s the defence which helps a team to win the league and not the strikers. Alejandro though believes it’s the team which wins the league.

“Why Barcelona have won eight La Liga titles in 11 seasons? It’s because of the teamwork. Of course they have one Lionel Messi who is the best in the world, but at the end of the day they are successful because they play as a team.”

So which is more difficult? Winning a league played over 10 months or a Champions League which is practically a three-month tournament.

“If you ask me I would value a league title more than a Champions League triumph. In the League, at the end of the day one team shows that they are better than others for 10 months. In Champions League, the best moment comes in the final stage of the tournament.”

The discussion obviously veered towards the happening 16-year-old Ansu Fati of Barcelona and Real Madrid’s 18-year-old Rodrigyo Goes.

“I have seen Rodrigyo a bit. He is playing for the senior team as well as the B team. He has a lot of individual ability and he is young. As I said earlier, Madrid is a difficult place where superstars like Sergio Ramos, Karim Benzema and Luka Modric play.

“So Rodrigyo needs to understand how much match-time he would get in the first team. And Fati is a super talent. May be the next Messi. Barcelona will have to take care of this talent. He has to be given the stability otherwise it’s very easy for a young player to go astray.”

Which is more difficult for a coach? To nurture a super talent or handle a superstar? Alejandro feels nurturing a young talent is more difficult than handling a superstar.

The East Bengal coach refused to buy the fact that the Spain national team is performing poorly.

“They are doing well. But they need to evolve, need to change. Like what the reigning world champions France did. For more than 15 years they struggled. Now they can have three national teams.”