In a matter of minutes Barcelona had unravelled an unbeaten Real Madrid on Monday night in the first of the two El Clasico encounters with Mourinho returning after his last visit in the Spring when he ended the club’s Champions League dreams - leaving local fans ecstatic. The Champions League dream being - not only winning the trophy for a second consecutive time but also receiving the trophy at the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium, home of Real Madrid.
In the end it was Inter Milan who collected the trophy with Jose Mourinho then committing further treachery – in the eyes of Barca fans - by joining the Madrid Club.
As El Clasico’s tend go this match was an exciting one - if you were a partisan Barca fan – as only one team really showed up on the night despite all the pre-match hype about Real whoa were seeking their chance to widen the gap at the top of La Liga to four points. As always "The Special One" was enjoying being the centre of attention as he tends to on these big occasions.
For his counterpart, Pep Guardiola, it was grist to the mill and he quietly went about his business all week hardly raising a wave in media circles in the build up to the match. In fact the exact opposite, going on to deliver the largest defeat to the Portuguese man - still known at the Catalan club as the “Translator”.
On the night Barcelona’s fluid and flexible formation of Pedro, Xavi, Iniesta and Messi ran the Real Madrid back four ragged with Ricardo Carvalho, Sergio Ramos, Pepe and Marcelo struggling to protect their goalkeeping captain, Iker Casillas. The ineffective use of the offside trap proved a limitation and unable to deal with diagonal balls that each time caught the Madrid back four flat footed.
At the other end Ronald and Di Maria became less effective as the clock ticked and when Barcelona added to their two goal tally after half time – it was game over.
Surprisingly Mourinho found no way to change the momentum and Barcelona continued to close down Ronaldo – using three men most times – cluttering the midfield leaving Alonso, Oezil and di Maria with little time on the ball to stamp control.
Coming into the game Real Madrid led Barcelona one point in La Liga with Real looking four their eighth straight win after the 4-0 rout of Ajax in the Champions League last week. Similarly Barcelona had six straight wins including a record 8-0 thrashing of Almeria last weekend, and were undoubtedly confident they could secure a win at home.
For the managers it was Pep Guardiola who added to his record which includes 2 La Liga Championships; 1 Copa del Rey; 1 Spanish Super Cup; 1 UEFA Super Cup; 1 FIFA Club World Cup and 1 Champions League. More importantly, he now holds a record of five El Clasico wins - out of five meetings - on his cv.
For Mourinho the night was only a set back and not a humiliation with the better team winning on the night.
"One team played to their potential and one didn't," said Mourinho. "Loss, yes - humiliation, no. It was a defeat we deserved, we just weren't good enough.
"I have spoken to my players and I told them the season has not ended. Who knows what can still happen this year?"
"I don't think you can say it reflected the difference between the two sides," added the Portuguese coach after his side suffered their first competitive defeat of the season. "Also, the championship isn't over today. We are two points behind the leaders but there are lots of games left to play. We have to show character, train hard and get back to winning. I wish we were playing tomorrow.
"You have to have character - when you lose by five goals you can't leave crying, you have to go and work harder. You never want to lose by these numbers."
Xabi Alonso echoed his manager's belief that the defeat would not have a decisive impact on the destination of the title.
"We didn't expect a game like this but there's a lot of the season left and this isn't over," said the former Liverpool midfielder. "Barcelona made things a lot easier for themselves by scoring the first so early and then getting the second quickly.
"It's been very difficult. We have to learn from the mistakes we've made."
Pep Guardiola said he was delighted to see his team play at their best in front of a global television audience thought to be about 400 million.
"We are proud because the world has seen us play the way we like to play," said Guardiola.
"I would like to take more points from Madrid but it's not possible. That team, with all that power, are just two points behind, but we are satisfied."
Striker Villa, playing in his first Clasico since signing for Barca from Valencia in the summer, scored two second-half goals.
"It's been a very important win," said the Spanish international. "We looked for the victory and we got it. And the result and the manner in which we achieved it, you cannot ask for more.
"We are two points clear but we need to continue working hard, we are only in November. Just as before the game nothing was lost, now neither have we won anything. We have an advantage but we need to continue working."
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