Madrid went into this on the back of 15 straight wins. They'd scored 70 goals in 20 matches. Barca's away record was far from convincing. At home they'd scored 39 goals and conceded none. Away they'd just bagged 8 and given away 7. Nevertheless, despite the Special One's reputation as the master motivator Madrid froze. Mourinho deployed Lassana Diarra and Xabi Alonso as a destructive force and planned to undo Barca with the explosive pace of Di Maria and Ronaldo. Messi set up Alexis Sanchez for the leveller despite the desperate attempts of both Diarra and Alonso. Mourinho disagreed: "I didn't like their first goal. I don't like it that one of my players that has a 50-50 ball in midfield he has to leave it. Our players have reason to have fear because when there is a 50-50 ball they see a yellow card." Mourinho's side lasted a minute less than Manchester United did in last May's Champions League final. Messi struck after 54 minutes at Wembley to make it 2-1 after Wayne Rooney had cancelled out Pedro's opener. David Villa added the gloss. Xavi's deflected shot on Saturday night went in off Marcelo after 53 minutes. Cesc Fabregas' 69th-minute clincher was almost inevitable. Ref Fernandez Borbalan spared Sergio Ramos a straight red for cutting Messi down. This left Mourinho without the excuse that Madrid always finish a man down against Barca. Hence he moaned Messi should have seen red for catching Alonso.
A MASTERSTROKE by Pep Guardiola left Jose Mourinho clutching at straws. Again. Leo Messi showed Cristiano Ronaldo who is boss. Again. Barca left Real Madrid bruised if not broken. Again. And despite the fastest goal scored in a Clasico — Karim Benzema's strike after 22 SECONDS — in the end Mourinho's men were left in yet another fine Messi after a 3-1 Bernabeu loss. The Portuguese chief has yet to beat Barcelona in La Liga and his 18-month Real record against Barca in all competitions now reads: P8 W1 D3 L4. The solitary win came in the Copa Del Rey final. But Barca have now won La Liga, the Champions League and the Spanish Super Cup at Mourinho's expense and are back on top of the table. On this showing the big trophies are Barca's to lose again this season. This was a celebration of talent and technique. Grace and graft. Barring a miracle the Champions League winner will be either of these two giants. But Madrid are still second best. They will win La Liga only if Barcelona commit suicide against the also-runs. Ditto for the Champions League. Messi made two of Barca's goals while Ronaldo missed two great chances. Argentine superstar Messi had 64 good passes (85 per cent success) to Ronaldo's 27 (72 per cent). For the first 20 minutes Real's frenetic pressing stifled Barca. So Guardiola pushed right-back Dani Alves to midfield, switching to a three-man defence. Game, set and match. Barca took complete control and Mourinho had no answer.
Re: Jose is looking a Real loser
by Richy Fernandes on Dec 12, 2011 02:31 PM
Madrid went into this on the back of 15 straight wins. They'd scored 70 goals in 20 matches. Barca's away record was far from convincing. At home they'd scored 39 goals and conceded none. Away they'd just bagged 8 and given away 7. Nevertheless, despite the Special One's reputation as the master motivator Madrid froze. Mourinho deployed Lassana Diarra and Xabi Alonso as a destructive force and planned to undo Barca with the explosive pace of Di Maria and Ronaldo. Messi set up Alexis Sanchez for the leveller despite the desperate attempts of both Diarra and Alonso. Mourinho disagreed: "I didn't like their first goal. I don't like it that one of my players that has a 50-50 ball in midfield he has to leave it. Our players have reason to have fear because when there is a 50-50 ball they see a yellow card." Mourinho's side lasted a minute less than Manchester United did in last May's Champions League final. Messi struck after 54 minutes at Wembley to make it 2-1 after Wayne Rooney had cancelled out Pedro's opener. David Villa added the gloss. Xavi's deflected shot on Saturday night went in off Marcelo after 53 minutes. Cesc Fabregas' 69th-minute clincher was almost inevitable. Ref Fernandez Borbalan spared Sergio Ramos a straight red for cutting Messi down. This left Mourinho without the excuse that Madrid always finish a man down against Barca. Hence he moaned Messi should have seen red for catching Alonso.
