===============================================
by Philipina A. Marcelo
So, on the eve of the UEFA Champions League semi-final match between the two Spanish Giants, FC Barcelona and Real Madrid FC, Mourinho finally got what he had been wishing for all these time! No, it wasn't really the Copa del Rey... it was a pointed reply from Pep Guardiola for Mourinho's press conference jibes!
For the longest time now, José Mourinho had been trying to drag Pep Guardiola into that tactician pig sty where he, Mourinho, is lord. He had been wanting to annoint the always-proper Guardiola as his #2 in press conference rooms. The job description, however, is something too filthy for a gentleman like Guardiola could ever fill in. But when annoying pokes and frustrating insinuations by Mourinho that were pointless enough to be ignored by the caballero manager for the Catalans turned to blatant accusations and malicious shoves, Guardiola reacted to protect his and Barҫa's reputation. He shoved back!
***
He said, he said...
Mourinho accused Guardiola of making excuses for losing the Copa del Rey, blaming referees for supposed erroneous decisions, which supposedly caused them the Copa. In his press conference, Mourinho said: "Up to now we have had two types of coaches. A very small group of coaches who never speak to the referees."
"After that, there is a bigger group, of whom I am one, who criticise the referees when they make huge errors. But it is also a group who are happy
to highlight the good work of the referee."And now, with the declaration of Pep the other day, we are entering a new era with a third group, which for the moment includes only him, who criticise the correct decision of the referee.
"I am not asking the referee to help my team. If the referee is good everyone will be happy - except Guardiola. He wants them to get it wrong."
In response, Guardiola replied in his own press conference: "Because Mr Mourinho used my name directly I will do the same.
"Away from the pitch he has had the upper hand so I award him his own personal Champions League for that.
"We worked together for four years. He knows me and I know him and that's what I will remember and focus on."It leaves a bad taste when someone you have worked with believes what he reads rather than you.
"I simply congratulated Madrid after the final. If you think that his allegation that I always complain about the referees is true after you've all heard me over the last three years, well there's nothing I can do.
"I try not to play his game off the pitch. He’s much better than me at it. I represent an institution that believes that this is not the best way to do things."
***
The real issue...
...uhm, nah, it isn't Shakira and Gerard Piqué, nah-uh. The real issue is the first leg of Barcelona and Real Madrid's semi-final tie in the UEFA Champions League.
In November last year, Barҫa hammered the Merengues in a totally embarrassing fashion, especially for Mourinho, with a 5-0 victory at Camp Nou in their first El Clásico for the 2010-2011 season of La Liga. The loss relegated Real Madrid in the second place of the La Liga Table, with Barcelona the towering leader. They met again last April 16 in the return to Estadio Santiago Bernabéu. Mourinho made a few adjustments with the Los Blancos tactical game, coming up with counter attack for the Catalans's tiki-taka based attacking game. Mourinho's counter was not pretty, in fact, it was highly criticised by many, including Real Madrid's honorary President and former great, Alfredo di Stefano as "anti-football".
Mourinho's "special treatment" for Barҫa was a defensive tactic with a defensive midfield that disallowed the Catalans's beautiful tiki-taka play. While it was rock-solid and almost impossible to penetrate at the back even by the terriffic trio of Lionel Messi, Andres Iniesta and Xavi Hernandez, with the "bus parked" back there, its offensive element was far from lethal - lame, in fact. Barҫa still controlled ball possession at about 71%, and was more valiant in attacking. It left Real Madrid as a "mouse" to Barcelona's "mighty lion", to paraphrase di Stefano.
La Liga's second El Clásico for the season in Bernabéu, and the first in a series of four in a span of 18 days ended with a draw at 1-1, with both goals produced on penalty kicks by the main men of the two sides: Lionel Messi for Barcelona, Cristiano Ronaldo for Real Madrid. Following the sending off of Raul Albiol on the 54th minute after he brought down David Villa - a decision criticized by Mourinho, which sent Lionel Messi for a spot kick, Real Madrid played most of the second half of the match with only 10 men. Therefore, they were thought to have ended the match with a moral win. From then on, jibes and mind games, led by the spin doctor Mourinho started. Pep Guardiola played a very passive role in the "word war". He had three good reasons for playing that role. First, they remain the leader, with an almost "untouchable" status in the La Liga Table with clear 8 points lead above Los Blancos. Second, the Copa del Rey was still up for grabs. And third, the UEFA Champions League semi-final was yet to be played and decided. Guardiola wanted to stick to the job in front of him, and it involves football - only.
El Clásico Dos was played on April 20: the final for Copa del Rey, which was won by Real Madrid, 1-0. The win came through a beautiful playmaking between Marcelo and Ángel Di Maria, which was finished by Cristiano Ronaldo in a fantastic header midway through the extension time. For Mourinho, the Copa win was important. He was able to show how his "anti-football" approach works to win silverware for the three-year silverware-starved Real Madrid, which to him, was the job at hand. The win by the Merengues effectively silenced many of Mourinho's critics, and the Madridistas welcomed him as the savior who will finally snatch back Spanish football kingship for Madrid from Catalonia. But more importantly, it deflated Barҫa's bigger-than-life image of invincibility and it boosted Real Madrid's confidence as the all-important El Clásico Tres approached - the first leg of the semi-final tie between Barcelona and Real Madrid at the Bernabéu.
***
The stakes
Prior to El Clásico Uno y Dos, and especially after the mighty 5-0 thrashing of the Los Blancos and the severe bruising of Mourinho's European Champion ego, Barcelona is admired as the best Football Club of Europe... and probably, in the world! The dispute then was whether Pep Guardiola's Barcelona with their lyrical tiki-taka was the best squad ever to play football. But after the 1-1 draw and 0-1 loss to Real Madrid in El Clásico Uno y Dos, respectively, Barҫa is left with the big challenge of re-establishing its position as the best Football Club against the curiously all-of-a-sudden very formidable Real Madrid. Yes, it could be the worst nightmare for Pep Guardiola. All of a sudden, his was the side that needed to prove itself! All of a sudden, Mourinho is the manager to beat, and his "anti-football" tactic the approach that needed countering! All of a sudden, Barcelona is the more vulnerable side beside the all-of-a-sudden mightier than might itself Real Madrid! All of this, thanks to Mourinho's masterful spinning in the press rooms!
But because it is football, the "real battle" is on the pitch! And that's where Guardiola and the Blaugranas want to meet Mourinho and Los Blancos!
Of course, the stakes are higher for Barcelona! And more so for Pep Guardiola. After all, his was the side that won the treble in 2009 - his
first year as a Barҫa manager. The tremendous feat earned him the distinction of being the youngest manager ever to win the UEFA Champions League title at 38 years. He beat Mourinho's English Premier League side then, Chelsea FC, in the semi-final stage and went on to win the title against Manchester United FC. However, last year, Mourinho was the man who stopped Guardiola from repeating his Catalan side's great feat in 2009 by defeating Barҫa at the same stage in the UEFA Champions League with his Italian Serie A side, Internazionale Milan. This year, he threatens to do the same along with Real Madrid, and it is easy to imagine how Guardiola may be haunted by his Catalan side's thwarted effort in their very own Camp Nou to come back in the semi-final after a first leg 3-1 defeat in San Siro by the Mourinho managed side. The Catalans won 1-0 in Camp Nou but they lost the tie 3-2 on aggregate. On the other hand, while Mourinho himself has a lot to lose, Real Madrid - the team - has nothing to lose, and so much to gain. For Mou, it's all about ego and fitting nicely into the "Special One" suit that he designed for himself. In his mind, everything is all about himself - his bid at becoming the first manager to win the UEFA Champions League title - thrice with three different clubs from three different countries! For Los Blancos, it's about a great transformation from scattered
individual talents to a well-organized team with formidable unique game. So, they won the Copa... but that doesn't need defending, nor was it enough to establish them as a team that could eclipse the Catalans and their beautiful game. If they lose in the hands of Guardiola's Barҫa, and lose any chance for the Champions League title this year, they could always say they were a "young team" that is still evolving... and next year should be fantastic. And maybe, it would be, too. If they went on to win against Barҫa, they would finally be that team that successfully made it gelling into a wonderful band of players that has the potential of dominating European football. More importantly, experiencing early the sweet sensation of being the more dominant team over their bitter rivals who have been widely regarded as Europe's brightest for some years now.Understandably, because the stakes are high for Pep Guardiola and his men, he reacted when he was being pushed rather forcefully and provocatively - he had a great amount of weight he was balancing on his shoulders. No matter how hardened with experience those shoulders were, an extra push would certainly ruin the precarious equilibrium even when it may be true that the degree of provocation can only be judged by the provoked, and giving in to provocation is a test of character. Pep Guardiola had successfully ignored all sorts of provocations from the Mourinho camp - always turning the other cheek. He is a gentleman and he knew he had the upperhand on the pitch anyway - especially if real football was to be played! But when malicious pokes, unhumorous jibes and provocative pushes turned to blatant character assassination, he shoved back!
To me, Guardiola's action was not giving in to provocation... it was a great effort to disallow the massacre of the beautiful world of football in the hands of an ambition-deranged man who calls himself "Special"! It's a way of saying: ENOUGH ALREADY! I can imagine how frustrating it must be for him. Here he was, trying to make adjustments to counter Mou's "anti-football" without compromising Barҫa's beautiful game that catapulted them to the apex of European football - a respectful act, I must say, to the admirers of football as a sport all around the globe. And here's Mou, trying to derail him and his Catalan warriors with his cheap shots - in the press room! Such is the curse of playing a squad managed by the "Special One"! In any case, it is never acceptable to provoke a fellow sportsman in or away from the playing field... especially away from the playing field where many things said can be interpreted and re-written is so many varied ways, and affect the way the game is played in the field. The fact, however, that Guardiola almost plunged in the sty where Mourinho happily splashes on a regular basis just to cut the latter's venomous tongue so football could be played without the negative spell that Mourinho's words weaves on and off the pitch tells of the intensity of purpose and will of the Catalans as soon as the opening whistle is blown in Bernabéu!
May fair play prevail... may the best side triumph!
***
Photo credits: All photos were grabbed from various sites - thanks.
