One Direction star Niall Horan has revealed that the band's recent training session with Real Madrid was at manager Jose Mourinho's request.

As previously reported, the British boyband met up with the football squad whilst on tour in Spain, meeting global stars such as Cristiano Ronaldo.

The Sun quotes Niall Horan as saying that manager Mourinho, who used to coach Chelsea, invited the lads down to their training ground to blag some tickets for his daughter. He said:

"Mourinho’s daughter is a fan and he wanted to get tickets to the show so he invited us down to train with the lads. Next thing we were taking free kicks with Ronaldo and Kaka - it was unbelievable. It was all a bit mad. It’s really hard to believe the stuff we get to do, it’s crazy."

The band have not hidden their love of football in the past, with the British group previously visiting Newcastle United whilst on tour.