It was as though somebody had unearthed a holy relic. Four pieces of screwed-up paper, abandoned on the turf by the away dugout at the Rico Pérez stadium, home of Herculés, who stand 14th in La Liga. The documents that would unlock the secret, unravel the mystery. Four tiny pieces of paper treated with reverential awe.

 

They were pages torn from José Mourinho's pad. They featured notes such as "pace, movement TR9", "depth, dead balls, switch wings", "arrival, counter". Then there were initials – DM and PL on either side, O and XA in the middle, K behind. And on the final page, numbers: 38, 13, and 6 in a column, 57 below, with "10 months" scrawled alongside. What did it all mean? The relics were carefully gathered up and taken to Canal Plus's flagship show El Día Después. The following day, they were spread across the first two pages of the newspaper AS.

 

Not only was the substance analysed, so was the style – by a handwriting expert and a psychologist. Apparently, Mourinho's long Ts, round numbers and "vibrant" scrawl show he is a "good man" with an "astonishing capacity for leadership", "a strong, decisive character", and "noble" with "incredible intelligence". As for the numbers, he was surely planning his season: it meant 10 months, 38 league games, 13 Champions League games, six in the Copa del Rey. It was a good sign: he was counting on reaching the Champions League final. That was the theory, anyway.

 

Few of the faithful doubted Mourinho would succeed. On one side of Spain's great divide – the side he confronts tomorrow night when he takes his Real Madrid team to Barcelona – Mourinho has been painted as immoral, barely better than Beelzebub. But still he occupies their time; never does a day pass without an attack. On the other side, Mourinho is feted, revered, lauded. Everything he does is part of a master plan, a work of genius. He may be Machiavellian but he is a winner.

 

Last week's red-card furore in the Champions League game at Ajax summed up his season. Real won 4-0 but had two men sent off for time-wasting and incurred Uefa's wrath, as both players thus avoided the possibility of suspension in the first knockout tie. The players and Mourinho have been accused of subterfuge; Madrid's wonderful football lost under a deluge of controversy.

 

Life in Spain had not started well when Mourinho left Inter early in the summer, having overseen the Milanese side's coronation as European champions. Real drew 0-0 twice in three away games, and many feared that his football would be intolerably boring. His team responded by winning their next three games 6-1, 4-1, and 6-1. They racked up seven straight victories. They are top of the league, a point ahead of Barça, having scored 33 in 12 games. No incoming manager has ever started better in this league.

 

There is a collective faith about Madrid: watching Angel di María, the expression of Mourinho's methods on the pitch, is to witness sacrifice and unity. Mourinho has built team spirit. He has beaten it into some: Pedro León was left out for two games, Karim Benzema castigated for arriving late, Sergio Canales dismissed with a simple: "I didn't like him." Defensively, they are sound. They play with pace and precision, devastating on counterattacks launched from Xabi Alonso. They are enjoying more possession than his previous teams ever did, too, with quick interchanges led by Di María, Cristiano Ronaldo and the deceptively simple Mesut Ozil.

'This year's galáctico is Mourinho,' Florentino Pérez said. But Sporting Gijón's Manolo Preciado called him a 'scumbag'

It is not just that Mourinho is winning; it is that he is different. That he can do things his way. No Madrid coach has had such authority. Mourinho has brought a seismic shift at the Santiago Bernabéu. Barcelona have often been identified by their coaches; Madrid have not. Until now. The latest edition of the official club magazine says: "Now, the world's best coach is here." At the start of the season, Madrid's president, Florentino Pérez, announced: "This year's galáctico is Mourinho."

 

Consulted on signings (Ricardo Carvalho and Di María arrived on his insistence), he controls everything and has become the voice of the club, Real's identity. Pérez could not be happier. One director insists: "He is easily the best coach in the world. Not only does he know about tactics, he is the best psychologist, the best manager of egos and the best in the transfer market."

 

The sports newspaper Marca can barely contain itself: Mourinho, one cover ran, "provokes an orgasmou". Headlines with "mou" in them appear obligatory; some are even calling his team Real Moudrid.

 

El País called him the "Michael Jackson of coaches". Canal Plus's analysis of his notes bordered on a scene from the Life of Brian. Notes! It is a sign! When Spain's competition committee investigated a confrontation between him and Manolo Preciado, the Sporting Gijón manager, Marca superimposed his head on to Goya's most famous painting, The third of May 1808, which depicts a humble, defenceless Spaniard facing a French firing squad. He was that important.

 

Not everyone saw him as an innocent victim. Although it was Preciado who insulted Mourinho, calling him a "scumbag", First Division coaches rallied round the Sporting coach. Mourinho had broken the golden rule, questioning another coach's professionalism, accusing Preciado of throwing his match against Barcelona. Preciado is popular; Mourinho has previous, with the constant digs at referees and at opponents.

 

If in Barcelona they are, as Mourinho insists, "obsessed" with him, he has been equally obsessed with them. It is his mission to destroy them. So far, the provocation is not working. Pep Guardiola refuses to be drawn. Nonetheless, when the Barcelona president, Sandro Rosell, said Mourinho would get the "reception he deserves" at the Camp Nou, most considered it a threat.

 

And Madrid are more of a threat than ever before. Mourinho's first mission for Madrid came while he was still coach at Inter: to defeat Barcelona in last year's Champions League semi-final. After four trophyless seasons, winning is all that matters. So what if he winds a few people up on the way?

 

"Those who attack him are just jealous because he is successful," said Alfredo Di Stefáno, Madrid's honorary president. "We didn't sign him to make friends," Emilio Butragueño, the former striker who is now a director, said. "We signed him to win."

 

And to win tomorrow above all.

Sid Lowe - Observer

 

Looking forward to tomorrow night even though the first encounter of the season (for the fourth time in a row I think). Hopefully it's not another red button job and I can watch it at home on Virgin.

 

 

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/europe/9474830.stm

 

Jose Mourinho comments harmful to Real - Ramon Calderon

Hi didn't win the ball with studs though, he kicked it to clear it an Alves booted Pepe's studs yet it's a red card.

 

Barca were a disgrace.

 

Messi's goals came from positions that Pepe would have been yet everyone is having a chug over the goal.

 

Lost any respect I had for Barcelona last night.

 

Yet you still harbour some for Real? For every cunt in the Barca team there's at least one in the Real team, both cheating cunts when it comes right down to it. Pepe didn't merit a red but let's face it, the ref would be as well to book the fanny in the tunnel before the game, save time for it later, total liability.

 

Real tried to play it tight, not necessarily "park the bus" (where did that phrase come from?) but not open attacking football and one man off blew it, nae way back and pretty much got done. Jose just doesn't have a good enough team and perhaps he now knows it.

 

Yet you still harbour some for Real? For every cunt in the Barca team there's at least one in the Real team, both cheating cunts when it comes right down to it. Pepe didn't merit a red but let's face it, the ref would be as well to book the fanny in the tunnel before the game, save time for it later, total liability.

 

Real tried to play it tight, not necessarily "park the bus" (where did that phrase come from?) but not open attacking football and one man off blew it, nae way back and pretty much got done. Jose just doesn't have a good enough team and perhaps he now knows it.

 

Agreed, I thought both were a disgrace to the game  over the how ever many el "classico's" there have been the past few weeks. will be interesting to see who faces them in the final. United hae decisions to make whether to field a team strong enough for tonight and sunday.

Mourinho not being in the ground for the second leg was shocking. He's a fucking embarrassment to himself and to Real Madrid. Fucking pussy.

Mourinho not being in the ground for the second leg was shocking. He's a fucking embarrassment to himself and to Real Madrid. Fucking pussy.

 

Indeed, the Madrid fans are reputedly raging about that and I can't imagine his employers are overly pleased either.

 

José Mourinho will continue as the Real Madrid manager next season, despite his side's defeat to Barcelona in the Champions League semi-final and the fierce criticism he has faced during a fortnight in which he accused Uefa of conspiring to favour Barcelona and saw the side he was signed to defeat reach the European Cup final and all but clinch the La Liga title.

 

The Portuguese coach has a meeting scheduled with the club's president, Florentino Pérez, over the next week to discuss the season and plans for next year. The meeting was arranged before the semi-final second leg at the Camp Nou and sources at the Bernabéu insist that Mourinho's position is not on the agenda. The coach, too, has publicly expressed his desire to continue after a difficult first season on and off the pitch.

 

Real Madrid are eight points behind Barcelona with four games to go, having lost two of their past three league matches at the Bernabéu – breaking Mourinho's nine-year unbeaten home run in the league in the process. The Champions League has now eluded them, representing a huge blow for a coach who was presented simply as a winner, a guarantee of success.

 

There have been significant criticisms of Mourinho's style of play, with even the club's honorary president, Alfredo Di Stéfano, describing Madrid as "a mouse to Barcelona's lion". Although Madrid have publicly backed their manager, even going so far as to formally denounce Barcelona to Uefa, there have been concerns at board level about the damage done by Mourinho's campaign against European football's governing body and the tension and aggression that has surrounded this sequence of four clásicos in 18 days.

 

But Madrid have won the Copa del Rey, their first trophy in five years across two terms under Pérez. That trophy has been taken by the board as a sign that Mourinho can compete with the rivals he was brought in to dethrone. Reaching the Champions League semi-final is a significant improvement on Madrid's run of six years without progressing beyond a single knock-out tie in the competition.

 

Much has been made of Pérez's impatience with coaches at Real Madrid and his refusal to accept failure. Vicente del Bosque was sacked in 2003 after winning the league title, largely because of Madrid's Champions League semi-final exit to Juventus. Pérez has employed seven coaches as president since then. Mourinho is the first to win anything. It has been noted too that, under Pérez's successor, Ramón Calderón, Madrid sacked Fabio Capello after winning the league title.

 

This situation, though, is different. Mourinho's position has been strengthened throughout the year. The club's director general, Jorge Valdano, with whom Mourinho has clashed, has been sidelined. The Portuguese has been granted a degree of authority unthinkable for his predecessors.

 

Most supporters, who embrace his more aggressive remarks, are on his side too. Mourinho is the first coach to have had his name regularly sung at the Bernabéu. The coach's criticism of referees and Uefa have met with their approval, serving to excuse Barcelona's progression into the final.

 

Madrid's president and board find themselves in a difficult situation with Mourinho: they bet so heavily on his appointment, presenting him as the best coach in the world, that they believe they must stick with him. If even he cannot win, deeper questions would be asked about the institution. The support he enjoys among fans strengthens his position and his departure would leave the club's hierarchy, and especially Pérez, unprotected.

 

Mourinho's tone has changed notably of late. Earlier in the season his challenges and criticism were directed at the club and there was an ambiguity in his responses that spoke of a future elsewhere. As his authority and the degree of support has increased, he has begun talking about the future at Madrid.

 

Mourinho has insisted that his sides are always stronger in the second season. Despite the disappointment of the last week and his failure to knock Barcelona out of Europe, he will have the chance to prove it.

 

http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2011/may/04/jose-mourinho-real-madrid-manager

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/13314698.stm

 

Mourinho handed five-match European ban

Mourinho not being in the ground for the second leg was shocking. He's a fucking embarrassment to himself and to Real Madrid. Fucking pussy.

 

Yes, they should replace him with Rafa Benitez  :wave: ;D

Real Madrid v Barca, SS1, 8.30pm tonight (9pm kick off).

 

Prediction: 2-2

0 - 3

0-0

Depends who starts at the back for FCB.

 

3-1.

Will be interesting to see how Real approach this. Playing some decent football of late but when ever they have tried that against Barca recently they have got humped. Will they revert to trying to kick the fuck out of Barca or will Jose stick with playing they way thet have in the last month or so.

Think it could be 1-3

3-1 looking good at the moment GD 

 

Has Ronaldo ever performed at an El Classico?  Another lackluster performance from him tonight.

 

 

Portuguese bum bandit fails to make a contribution of any significance in a big game. Think that's been done before.

 

Messi has been a totally absent influence too tonight. Apart from once. He put through the young Chilean for the all important equaliser.

 

Freak goal for Real. Freak second goal for Barca.

 

Can not believe a Mourinho team can give up so easily. Never seen such a gutless capitulation in my life. Zero work ethic when the going got tough. It's this lack of application that will kill them when it matters. Fudstick primadonna elite effetes. Wanker madridistas.

3-1 looking good at the moment GD 

 

Has Ronaldo ever performed at an El Classico?  Another lackluster performance from him tonight.

 

Indeed. He seems to try too much as an individual than be the team player he's become.

 

Had money on Barca, ridiculous odds.

Again Ronaldo is absent during a big game. Again Mourinho is completely incapable of beating Barcelona.

I got 8/1 on half time draw ft barca

Just had a look at the line ups. 4/1 Barca -1 looks amazing!

2-1 Barca

 

Fabregas 1st goal scorer

 

£10 @ 40/1

Bust!

Ronaldo deserved that one.

Ronaldo deserved that one.

 

Aye, for finally actually showing up to an El Clásico...

Aye, for finally actually showing up to an El Clásico...

 

Been the best player on the park so far. Might not show up at El Clásico but he shows up everywhere else.

 

Hence they are 5 points ahead.