Carlos Puyol with Cop del Rey in 2009
On Wednesday night Jose Mourinho plays Barcelona for the second of four contests that will take place over the coming three weeks and comes on the back of a draw last Saturday in La Liga at the Estadio Santiago Bernabeu, albeit with ten men. An improvement on the first meeting at Camp Nou last November when Pep Guardiola's side walloped Madrid 5-0. But “The Special One” arrives in Valencia with some stinging criticism ringing in his ears from Club Legend, Alfredo di Stefano, unhappy at the defensive formation adopted last weekend in El Clasico. Although it was not pretty to watch from either side there seemed few alternative strategies from Jose that could have rendered a better result.
However in a month with so many meetings there was also a sense of mind games from Mourinho as with La Liga lost it was the match he could most afford to lose.
In trying to restrain the might of Barcelona’s team passing from Andres Iniesta, Xavi Hernandez, Busquets and Lionel Messi across the middle, Real Madrid attempted to flood the midfield with Pepe and Khedira alongside Alonso – working on counter attacks where possible. In a cluttered centre circle the physical presence of the duo just led to niggling fouls for the most part, as the work load became more challenging with the two big Real players chasing three players half their size - and very low centres of gravity. In an almost comical way it was clear that as good as both Pepe and Khedira were on the night in a second match they could be brutally exposed.
The normal rampant Real Madrid flair was altered for the defensive priorities for Marcelo and Sergio Ramos restricting their forward movement with the attacking Dani Alves and David Villa. In a tense match, loaded with the fans expectations, the players failed to break the deadlock of the overbearing pressure until the 51st minute when Albiol was red carded for bringing down Xavi in the box. A few moments later Lionel Messi broke his duck against Real Madrid and set Catalunya on their way to what looked like a second La Liga victory. But the match did not work out that way in the end.
Faced with Madrid intent on holding a high line on the Bernabeu pitch Barcelona worked in tights spaces and for the most part struggled to maintain their rhythm, with the buffeting from the ten remaining Madrid players. In a tussle that edged it ways towards the end Mourinho’s team never gave up and changes to personnel in the shape of Adebayor and Mesut Oezil made a difference, with Guardiola dropping in more defenders in response.
With some better attacking options on the bench than Barcelona the momentum of the ten increased as the German midfielder Oezil worked spaces, even if Adebayor missed a few good chances. But in the battle of the minds it will be José Mourinho who left the ground more upbeat as a penalty in the last minutes of the game by Ronaldo levelled the match. Although the point is no good to Madrid, as Barcelona have la Liga in the bag, the momentum of such a win will be helpful ahead of the Copa del Rey final in La Mestalla on Wednesday.
A former Barcelona manager, not know, for his diplomacy when writing in his column on footballing matters in El Periodico, summed it up as Madrid playing with just defenders. "The greatest compliment he [Mourinho] gave Barca was with his line-up. To play at home with seven defenders shows you have to be very afraid,” wrote John Cruyff. He also expressed surprise that the Club even allowed him field such a defensive formation given that Fabio Capello lost his job, despite winning La Liga, for a similar style, according to the Dutch Legend.
Having last won the Copa del Rey in 1993 in Valencia, at the old Luis Casanova Stadium , Madrid beat Real Zaragoza 2-0, which remains the last time the club held the trophy. Three years previous in the final of 1990, with John Toshack at the helm, Real Madrid lost to Barcelona by 2- 0, in game also played in Valencia. Which for Real Madrid captain, Iker Casillas, is all too long ago. “It is a very important trophy for Real Madrid and we cannot afford to not win it for 17 years. It will be even more important if we do win it. It is vital. I have not won it in the eleven years I have been here,.” explained Casillas this week in Madrid.
For Jose Mourinho it will be the fifth Cup final of his career as he has won similar titles in his home country, the FA Cup in England and the Coppa Italia in Italy with Inter. Should Madrid defeat Barcelona on Wednesday, he would become the first Real coach to win the title in four different countries as other Real Madrid coaches have only won Cup titles in three different countries; Vujadin Boskov (Spain, Italy, Netherlands) and John Toshack (Spain, Wales, Turkey).
The history shows Barcelona have won 3 out of every 4 finals they have appeared in since their first final back in 1902, and have played in 34 finals in all. Real Madrid, on the other hand, have been second best 19 times, with 17 wins to their name. Barcelona also have a very recent memory having beaten Athletic Bilbao in 2009.
On Wednesday night in Valencia the soft spoken Josep Guardiola could go a long way to eclipsing Mourinho if the runaway La Liga leaders can win the Copa del Rey and follow it up with victories in the semi final of the Champions League, to reach the final in Wembley. Should he do so Pep could secure his second treble in as many seasons which surely would be an achievement above and beyond even Mourinho’s impressive record.
But last Saturday’s match at Wembley will be a reminder of how those treble dreams can so easily unravel as Sir Alex Ferguson’s Manchester United lost to their City rivals in the FA Cups semi-final by 1-0. With Emanuel Adebayor still on loan from Manchester City he will be keen to secure silverware not doubt motivated by the thought that he is missing out on a Wembley final appearance. Or worse still, if City win he might not be needed any more at Eastlands.
Either way the Copa del Rey should be a real Clasico on Wednesday as with a one off match the priorities are always different. With so many other records in the offing as well this match is more important than the meeting last Saturday in La Liga.
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