Jose Mourinho has denied he has been in contact with Real Madrid or the club's president Florentino Perez amid rumours that he return to the Bernabeu this summer.
The Portuguese manager has been repeatedly linked to a return to the Spanish Capital, and reports on Saturday suggested he was in direct talks with the club.
This season will represent a second successive season in which Real Madrid will end without a trophy and they may suffer the indignation of officially crowning bitter rivals Barcelona as LaLiga champions should they fail to win El Clásico on Sunday night.
While Mourinho did not rule out speaking to Madrid after the season finishes, he insisted he was only focused on Benfica's end to the season.
He said in a news conference: "I honestly ran away, I had no contact whatsoever, neither with the President, nor with any of the important people in the structure.
"And by my own decision, a decision similar to others I've made throughout my career, especially now, in the final stages of the season, I don't speak to anyone.
"I haven't had any contact with Real Madrid, I haven't, and until the last league game against Estoril, I won't either.
"After that, there's a one-week window where I'll have the freedom to speak to whomever I feel I should speak to, but all the stories that have come out, demands, meetings, it's all speculation."
Problems have run far deeper at Real Madrid this season than merely failing to win trophies.
It has been a week of turmoil for the club, with Federico Valverde and Aurélien Tchouaméni reportedly having a second fight in as many days on Thursday, leaving the Uruguayan in hospital and missing the clash with Barcelona.
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Both players were fined €500,000 ($589,000) for their part in the fight, it was announced by the club.
It was later revealed by ESPN that that fight was just the tip of the iceberg, with further confrontation, arguments and a generally negative environment behind the scenes of Madrid's poor form.
Kylian Mbappé has had repeated problems with Alvaro Arbeloa's staff, sources have told ESPN, while Jude Bellingham, VinÃcius Júnior and Valverde all had issues with Xabi Alonso at the time he was sacked.
Mourinho managed Madrid between 2010 and 2013, at the peak of Pep Guardiola's Barcelona dominating Europe.
He won the LaLiga title in record fashion in the 2011-12 season, with 100 points, as well as a Copa del Rey the season before.
His last trophy in management came when winning the Conference League with Roma in 2022.
