José Mourinho has done it again.
The Real Madrid coach celebrated Kylian Mbappe’s late Barcelona winner with a trademark knee slide on Sunday, while maintaining his midas touch on their bitter rivals.
Mourinho became only the third Real boss to go six consecutive Clasicos without defeat – 13 years after he last managed Los Blancos in this match.
Four wins and two draws in his last six matches in charge of Real Madrid against Barcelona place him in the same rank as Miguel Munoz (1962 to 1965) and Vicente del Bosque (2001 to 2003) as Real coaches who went six games in a row without defeat against the old enemy.
It was also only a second victory in eight matches against Barcelona for Real, with Mourinho’s return to the match haunting the reigning champions.
And more importantly for Mourinho, Mbappe’s brace in Real’s 2-1 win ended Barcelona’s nine-game unbeaten run with a crucial Clasico win at the Camp Nou.
A defeat for Real would have allowed Barcelona to establish a nine-point advantage, but the result transformed the La Liga lead, bringing Mourinho’s side to within three points of their rivals.
“In my opinion, Real Madrid does not play to win at Camp Nou, but Real Madrid plays to win La Liga,” he said.
“We could win with luck, but we won with equanimity and with all the credit,” he said. “It’s a very strong group. Everyone works very hard. Everyone was ready to win.
“The credit goes to the players. When you win, the credit goes to the players. But when you lose, the blame goes to you. And that’s why we see coaches being sacked every week.”
The Portuguese, who returned to Real 13 years after his first spell in charge this summer, has now won six and lost six Clasicos.
He said: “I learned that I have an extraordinary group, with the quality and the mindset to perform.
“In midfield, having a mix of talents gives us more than just two players with similar characteristics. This mix of talents gives us balance in defense and quality in attack.
“We’ve beaten several teams by four or more goals, but it’s Barça, and the players had a great game. We have to continue like this and not get carried away after this victory.”
Barcelona boss Hansi Flick said he did not want to make excuses for the defeat but admitted his side were lacking fresh legs after a demanding few weeks.
“We missed the freshness,” he said. “It’s not easy for our players. We have to recover well, train well and we have to react after this defeat.
“In big matches, the little things are important and they decide the matches and today it was not on our side.
“I see that today we were not fresh and that is what we need to change.”
Gn sports
