Real Madrid vs. Barcelona: Power Ranking Pep Guardiola V Jose Mourinho Battle
Jose Mourinho is one of the greatest managers to ever grace the modern game and the self-proclaimed "Special One" was handed one of his toughest assignments yet, to play Barcelona four times in 18 days and five times in the season.
Mourinho has always had everything his own way, winning title after title, game after game! He is a multi-Champions League winning manager, more notably when he led Porto to Champions League success in 2004. Standing in his way was Pep Guardiola, the former Barcelona player and manager of the Barca side.
Behind every successful venture lies a shrewd brain. The evolution of FC Barcelona from just another very good team in Europe to the most devastating opposition in recent times, is no accident.
Inheriting Frank Rijkaard's side, Pep Guardiola managed to re-build the Johan Cryuff philosophy, making them work hard, train harder and subsequently play beautiful football week in week out.
This Clasico series was going to be a hard-fought battle from the start, and it had all the right ingredients. The two best players in the world, nine World Cup champions and two men with contrasting ideology, Jose Mourinho and Pep Guardiola.
Champions League First Leg at Bernabeu
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The first leg of the Champions League semifinal and Jose Mourinho had got the better of Pep Guardiola it must be said.
Guardiola usually doesn’t comment about referees or about other managers. Even about Jose Mourinho. Well, maybe just a little. But never so fierce. Never so blunt. Never so direct.
This time it's personal. Barcelona's coach, Josep Guardiola, finally exploded, sending anger and frustration gushing forth as he responded to José Mourinho on the eve of the Champions League semifinal first leg against Real Madrid.
Mourinho might have thought that he had won the tactical battle, unsettling Guardiola and inviting the wrath of the Catalan fans, but somehow it did help Guardiola's cause. The football played on the pitch was far from satisfying, a lot of pushing, shoving, diving, play acting, a Red card, a lot more yellow cards, a caged-up Mourinho and above all a 2-0 victory for the away fans.
Mourinho did get rattle his man, but that only helped Guardiola come back stronger, and that they did. In the end, the result was all that mattered, and that's what Pep got.
What went wrong for Real Madrid? Tactics for sure. The long-ball tactic that was so beautifully deployed seem to have vanished and Real Madrid were keen on defending at any costs, and that is what seemed to give away the game.
Barcelona were thin in defense and a few attacks on their goalpost would have shaken the back four and could have invited challenges and free-kicks.
Over all, it was a poor performance by the Real Madrid manager who, unfortunately for the neutrals of the game, did all the talking off the pitch.
The League Game at the Bernabeu
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Before the game, all the talk was about how Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi had never scored in the Clasico and how Barcelona ran havoc at Camp Nou in the first game of the season between the two sides.
Eventually as things turned out both Ronaldo and Messi got their goals thanks to penalties in either half, and Real Madrid came back from behind to score with 10 men.
Real Madrid drillmaster Mourinho got a stick for his tactics from a lot of people, including honorary club admiral Alfredo Di Stefano, and he responded to criticism by pointing out he is the one who makes the decisions about the way the aggregation plays.
The 84-year-old Di Stefano, who won European Cups with Real amid 1956 and 1960, was annoyed with Mourinho’s action of instructing his players to sit back against Barcelona at the Bernabeu and try to bolt the on the break.
The tactics however were reminiscent of Mourinho tactics that he had deployed against Barcelona with different teams before and would have given some respite to the Special One. Barcelona can be beaten.
Copa Del Rey Final at Mestella
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And they were beaten.
The next stop was Mestella, the home of Valencia FC and the venue for the Barcelona v Real Madrid Copa Del Rey final.
In a match which saw mini-skirmishes over the course of the game, it was Real Madrid who prevailed, a Cristiano Ronaldo header in extra time sealed the deal for Mourinho's men, who ended their trophy drought in Mourinho's first year as manager at the club.
Real Madrid captain Iker Casillas lauded the influence of manager Jose Mourinho after his side beat La Liga rivals Barcelona to clinch their first Copa del Rey trophy since 1993, and the Spanish keeper was quick to praise the impact that the Portuguese coach has made at the Bernabeu.
Mourinho got the better out of Guardiola this time. Pep deployed the same tactic, pass, move the ball, keep the ball and try to score. Mourinho had other ideas. He counter attacked Barcelona, deploying the long-ball tactic which Barcelona failed to deal with to some extent.
Mourinho was spot on with his tactics. He knew, how to beat them. And he did beat them to lift the trophy.
Champions League Semi-Final Second Leg at Camp Nou
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Jose Mourinho in his match conference had declared Barcelona the winners after the first leg.
A lot of allegations of racism, favoritism and much more were levied on each other and the Barcelona players, referees, UEFA and its officials and even UNICEF got the stick from Mourinho.
The Belgian referee in the game had sworn to end the legacy and not show the door to a Real Madrid player and Ricardo Carvalho took full advantage, making a few questionable tackles that warranted a second booking.
Real Madrid seemed to have scored in the second half through Higuain only for the referee to have stopped play for a foul of Mascherano. Ronaldo tripped and fell on the follow through touching Mascherano's back leg making him roll on the floor. The subsequent goal was scored hence was ruled out.
Pedro scored for Barcelona to give Barcelona a three-goal lead, and although Marcelo scored 10 minutes, later the tie was all but wrapped up.
The match did not see a red, the referee was consistent for most parts of the game and there weren't many incidents like in the first game. The game however was on the slower side, and the incidents over the last few days between the two sides might have exhausted the two teams.
Mourinho's presence was missed the in the Madrid dugout for sure.
Mourinho V Pep Guardiola: The Verdict
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The contest between the two managers was always going to be sore state of affairs especially after Jose Mourinho led Inter Milan to victory over Barcelona in last year's Champions League semifinals and his constant attacks on Barcelona over the past few years.
Mourinho had previously faced Barcelona with both Chelsea and Inter Milan and has been an instrumental figure in the success of the two clubs, however, he had never previously won the Champions League with Chelsea.
Tactics
Mourinho was always going to have a defensive mind-set against Barcelona, a tactic which has proved to be successful over the years for him. Guardiola, on the other hand would do what Barcelona did best, attack the ball, keep possession and attack the opposition looking for openings and quick one-twos.
Jose Mourinho did seem to be on track in the first two games, drawing the first game with 10 men and then going on to win the Copa Del Rey but somehow, the aggressiveness that seemed so successful faded away as we entered the Champions League contests.
Real Madrid was successful in troubling Barcelona's defense with long balls into the final third, and somehow it precedented in the latter stages with Real focusing more on keeping Barcelona's threat of scoring rather than trying to score themselves.
Having said that, being down to 10 men did not help their cause and Mourinho was quick to point out that a 0-0 draw that he wanted was spoiled by the referee's decision to send of Pepe, a decision which is still being debated by fans of either clubs and neutrals alike.
Mind games
The Clasico series has distracted one of football's pre-eminent man-managers. His success throughout his previous ventures has been founded on relationships with his players and his tactic of playing mind-games with opposition teams and managers.
Was he successful? To an extent, Yes. He did seem to get under the skin of Guardiola who before the start of the final encounter said that he was happy that tonight it would be over. He had previously also compelled to use strong words against Mourinho which stated that the Real Madrid manager was successful in unsettling his man.
The desired result however was not achieved.
Decisions
Mourinho would argue that a lot of decisions went against him and that the referees were more instrumental in his team's defeat rather than his tactics.
Having said that, Mourinho has always been vocal about refereeing decisions, and the fact that Barcelona players did seem to make a meal of mediocre challenges does put some weight behind his allegations.
Pepe, the man in question with a sending off, has had a reputation of volatile tackles and stupid challenges and that past record has not helped his cause. The decision is still arguable, and personally, I was convinced that it was a sending off.
Lionel Messi's two goals however were shadowed on that first leg by some stupid skirmishes, and play acting like I mentioned and in the course might be overshadowed by controversies surrounding the ill-fated affair.
The so-called Clasico series has failed to live up to its hype and the epic encounters would be remembered for all the wrong reasons, and of course, Jose Mourinho.
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