The fall out over Wednesday's El Crassico continues. UEFA has decided to open disciplinary cases into both Real Madrid and Barca. Of the two, the Madrid club gets off much worse.
"The case against Real Madrid is in relation to the throwing of missiles, a pitch invasion, the red card shown to Pepe, the dismissal of coach Jose Mourinho, as well as the inappropriate statement given by Mr Mourinho to the media after the match." (Uefa Disciplinary Regulations, Article 5 - Principles of conduct).
"The case against Barcelona regards the red card administered to Jose Pinto."
I have never seen Jose Mourinho look so down in the mouth. In his post match conference, he practically threw in the towel. And his "sometimes it is disgusting for me to live in this world and have this football world for a living" reminds me of his post Chelsea days when he took a hiatus for a year because he had had enough.
With Barca at its peak, Real might have to consign itself to second fiddle for a considerable period of time. What is Mourinho going to do? Develop a system? Players? He's never done that in his career. As a coach Mourinho plays not to lose - it was the way things were done in Chelsea and Inter. Tough gritty defenses and efficient counterattacks. It made for ugly but effective football.
Yesterday was a good case in point. He had three holding midfielders and four backs with Mesut Oezil, Angel Di Maria, and Ronaldo as his attacking options. Barca had to overcome a defensive cordon stretching from the half line down with Di Maria and Oezil falling back to track. It was clear Mourinho was playing for a draw. By the end of the match a frustrated Ronaldo was about 60 yards away from his normal position trying to retrieve the ball. Adebayor was an improvement at first but clearly after Pepe's ejection service to him was unforthcoming.
Barca maybe the beneficiaries of some questionable dismissals but Madrid were never going to beat them even if they had their full complement of players. Mourinho's tactics have to be questioned when players like Kaka, Gonzalo Higuain, and Karim Benzema sit on the bench who not three days ago had subjected Valencia to a 6-3 humiliation.
Mourinho also borders on the ludicrous when he says "They have gained that power. Others don't have a chance." This is the manager of a club who spent €500m on players with bank loans in a country a step away from declaring insolvency and reeling from record unemployment. Everyone knows Florentino Perez just has to call to get these loans approved because no bank can afford to be looked on as the one to torpedo Madrid's chances. In the public relations department the Madrid media are nothing but shameful water carriers for their team. Tell me who has the power. I have said this before but Mourinho's genius lies in turning himself into a victim. Arsene Wenger tries but he comes across as a whinger.
The spotlight should be on Mourinho's tactics not some pie in the sky UNICEF conspiracy theory. What bets he's pining for a Premiership return? He may not even wait to exercise that clause in his contract which says he is free to look for alternate employment after two years.
Renato: I did watch the game and am equally aware that Pedro and Busquets acted most shamefully. Pepe's tackle is in dispute but the referee made a reputation call. Diarra and Adebayor should have been booked a few times over. So there were quite a few villains on Real's part too. Plus, they played so negatively unlike the Copa Del Rey. Mourinho clearly was playing for a draw and sneaking in a goal. Its as if he had no attacking options.
Sorry but you are completely and totally wrong... you must have not watched the game... it was clearly on barcelonas side.. . so you are saying that real won copa del rei by lucky?? go watch games dude and not be worried about anybodys accounts...
Kev: Mourinho's tactics should have been to go all out for a win at home. Real have a very good record at the Bernabeu. He had the choice of Benzema/ Higuain to partner Ronaldo and Kaka to improve creativity. The problem is whereas in Inter, Mourinho could rely on Zanetti, Maicon, Lucio, Samuel and Motta at their best; the Real defense does not measure up in quality. Arbeloa, Albiol, Ramos, Marcelo with Pepe are not in the same class. Florentino Perz built this team to attack - even the Madrid press is showing its disapproval of Mou's negative tactics.
I too wondered about his tactics for this match. If you take Mourinho at his word, he was trying to keep it 0-0 as long as possible. With Adebayor at the half, he put in a striker and he claims for the "third phase", he would have gone with two or three strikers, I forget his exact words. That would be a late game punch and would minimize the Barca threat. Seems quite reasonable tactics vs a side like Barca.