Real Madrid vs Barcelona: José Mourinho's Conspiracy Theory Tops Shameful Night

Did you know the number 52 is an untouchable number? Well Lionel Messi scored his 52nd goal of the season in untouchable fashion. With a one-two from Sergio Busquets, Messi was off on another trademark run, as he ruthlessly pillaged the Schalke like space in between Marcelo and Raúl Albiol.

GOLAZO! Messi veered towards the corner flag in celebrations, whilst Iker Casillas and Marcelo began to scapegoat Albiol.

Pep Guardiola took a sip of water, cool and personified; there would be no F-word tirades. José Mourinho sat poker faced, as UEFA and referees began to dominate his thought process.

Messi’s moment of magic brought some respite to an otherwise ugly match.

This slideshow will discuss four main points: the shameless acts from both sides, the match itself, Messi’s greatness and Mourinho’s crazy conspiracy theory.

Shame, Shame and More Shame

Jasper Juinen/Getty Images

MADRID, SPAIN - APRIL 27: Xabi Alonso (L) of Real Madrid stands besides Pedro Rodriguez of Barcelona laying on the pitch during the UEFA Champions League Semi Final first leg match between Real Madrid and Barcelona at the Estadio Santiago Bernabeu on Apr

In the course outline for Diving 101, coordinator Jürgen Klinsmann describes diving as an act where you fake it like Eric Roberts, with intent to swindle the referee into making a decision favourable to your team.

Looking at Klinsmann’s students, Sergio Busquets looks to graduate from the course as summa cum laude. He was marginally flicked in the face by Pepe, yet plummeted toward the ground as if he was floored by a right hook from Santa Camarão. Thiago Motta can attest to how adept Busquets is at the dark arts of diving.

Dani Alves will be graduating with a high distinction, and scored the highest in tonight's assessment. Whilst taking evasive action against Pepe, Alves threw himself to the floor when Pepe hadn't made any contact.   

Pedro will be graduating with a distinction, but scored highly in tonight’s assessment. He was body checked by Álvaro Arbeloa, yet instead of grasping his chest for air, he was clutching his face, and in doing so brought back memories of Rivaldo.

FIFA prohibit players from taking their shirts off in celebration, and have banned snoods (neck warmers), yet why don’t they take a no BS policy towards diving?

Diving isn’t the only ugly side of football; the verbal abuse and constant complaining referee Wolfgang Stark had to endure from both sides was disgraceful.

One example was Sergio Ramos bodychecking Lionel Messi, then begging referee Stark not to book him, since he would be suspended for the second leg. He was rightly booked and in response, verbally abused referee Stark. Talk about insincerity at its worse.

Judging Ángel di María complaining alone, you’d think he’d just been hacked from behind by Andoni Goikoetxea. Di Maria should take note from Antonio Rattín; complaining will not do you any good.

José Pinto has to be the most shameful goalkeeper in world football, though not as shameful as Roberto Rojas was.

Aside from what Pinto did against Copenhagen, tonight he managed to do a Leandro Cufré by getting himself sent off as a substitute. Though Cufré’s achievement was more infamous, given he was sent off as a substitute…after the full time whistle!

Barcelona Destined for Wembley?

Pep Guardiola’s decision to substitute Ibrahim Afellay on for a drained out Pedro was the tactical move of the match.  

Afellay’s one bright moment of the match was easily beating Marcelo and providing the assist for Messi’s first goal.

People shouldn’t question Marcelo; more so, they should question why Sergio Ramos was in la la land when Messi ghosted past him?

You know it was a surprise that Pepe lasted almost 272 minutes without being sent off, having gone full throttle with his attempts to win back possession in El Clásico II, III and IV. Yes, he made his mark in El Clásico II and III, but tonight in El Clásico IV, his dismissal turned the game against Real Madrid.

The worse aspect of Pepe's dismissal was he didn't make any contact! 

Cristiano Ronaldo’s performance was individualistic, and 17 minutes in, he was already sulking. The free kicks were so me, me, me orientated. Then throw in the fact that he didn't defend or press as the rest of his teammates did. 

Messi’s second goal was sheer magic, though what about the generous space in between Marcelo and Raúl Albiol? Why didn’t Marcelo close the space? There was a touch of irony as Marcelo and Iker Casillas vented at Albiol, given if Marcelo had closed the space, Messi wouldn’t have had the route to run at.

It’s rare that you ever see Mourinho not make his full quota of substitutions, one has to wonder why?

Following Pepe’s dismissal, why didn’t Mourinho substitute Esteban Granero and Ezequiel Garay on, in order to sure up  Real Madrid defence? As a result Messi was able to run free for the first time since El Clásico I. 

Is Lionel Messi the Greatest of All Time?

Lionel Messi’s 52 goals so far, and the keyword is so far, have been amazing. Who knows how many goals he’ll end up with this season. After tonight’s virtuoso display, there are some proclaiming Messi to being the greatest of all time.

Are those people forgetting about Edison Arantes do Nascimento, otherwise known as Pelé? He won three FIFA World Cups, scored 1,281 career goals, scored 110 goals in the 1962 season, scored 100 goals in the 1959 season and scored 50 goals or more for nine straight seasons.  

Also he played most of his career in an era without yellow and red cards and when tackling from behind was considered legit. This allowed the likes of João Morais to literally kick him out of the 1966 World Cup. 

Is José Mourinho Crazy or Conniving?

According to Sid Lowe at The Guardian, in his postmatch press conference, José Mourinho insinuated that UEFA plotted to put Barcelona into the final.

Matt Barlow at the Daily Mail reported that Mourinho accused referees Wolfgang Stark, Tom Henning Øvrebø, Frank de Bleeckere and Anders Frisk for aiding and abetting Barcelona.

Referee Stark incorrectly sent off Pepe because he was deceived by a perfect dive from Dani Alves. His leg swaying behind him, taking a somersault, the reaction, it was all insync with Pepe's tackle. Therefore referee Stark logically assumed Pepe cleaned Alves up, which wasn't the case, because Pepe didn't make any contact. So if he didn't make any contact, then it shouldn't have even been a yellow card, let alone a red card.

Then being said, Mourinho didn't have an issue when referee Stark red carded Didier Drogba against Inter Milan last season. Why? Since it didn't affect Mourinho's Inter Milan. As long as referee decisions do not adversely affect his teams, it's no hay problema.

Referee Øvrebø incorrectly sent off Eric Abidal (he missed the Champions League final!) for “fouling” Nicolas Anelka, when Anelka actually tripped over himself. Also referee Øvrebø’s performance came under heavy scrutiny (again) in Bayern Munich vs Fiorentina. So it’s a more of question of his competency rather a question of corruption.

Referee Frank de Bleeckere was fooled by Sergio Busquets’ Oscar worthy dive. Though if referee de Bleeckere was really corrupt, he would have turned a blind eye to Yaya Touré’s handball and allowed Bojan Krkić to score a 91st-minute winner. However, referee de Bleeckere called Touré for handball, thus ruling Bojan’s goal illegitimate.

Referee Anders Frisk was right to send off Didier Drogba, even though the challenge looked mild at worse. Mourinho should ask why Drogba who was already on a yellow, went in studs up on Víctor Valdés?

Mourinho conveniently left out referee Olegário Benquerença, who not only denied Barcelona a clear cut penalty during their 3-1 loss to Inter Milan, but also didn’t overrule his linesman when Diego Milito scored from an offside position.

That day, Barcelona cried at the unjustness, and in the second leg, referee de Bleeckere made a mistake in sending Thiago Motta off.

Today, Mourinho is screaming foul, perhaps hoping the referee will be pressured to rule against Barcelona in the second leg.