Real Madrid v Barcelona Reaction: Fury at Pepe and Mourinho

Spanish Football / Michael Lintorn / 19 January 2012 / 2 Comments

Pepe stamped on Lionel Messi's hand in the second half of the Clasico

"Nine meetings with Barcelona since Jose Mourinho's appointment and still no hint of identifying the way to beat them is immensely frustrating for a club as accustomed to winning as Real Madrid."

Pepe's vicious attack has attracted much of the attention following Barcelona's latest Clasico triumph, but Jose Mourinho isn't proving too popular either...

For once, the Madrid and Catalan press found common ground after Barcelona's 2-1 Copa del Rey quarter-final first leg victory at Real Madrid, uniting in their condemnation of Pepe's latest Clasico controversy, in which he stamped on Lionel Messi's hand.

Marca cast aside their Real Madrid bias to label the Portuguese international's conduct "shameful" and even Jose Mourinho, claiming not to have seen the incident, refused to defend him, agreeing that "of course if it happened it would be worthy of censure".

But while Pepe provided the main talking point in a game that replicated last month's La Liga clash between the pair, with Real Madrid making the early running and Barcelona overwhelming them as the match wore on, it didn't save Mourinho from criticism.

Indeed, a Real Madrid-supporting friend of this writer who was at the Bernabeu described the crowd as more angry with him than ever before. The Special One's response to chants against his tactics won't endear him to his dissenters either, as he noted: "I understand the fans, but I don't listen".

However, though this was a third successive defeat for Mourinho against Pep Guardiola, and one that does potentially irreparable damage to his bid to retain the Copa del Rey - they are now [7.8] to qualify from this tie - the abuse heading his way does seem a tad harsh.

Yes, nine meetings with Barcelona since his appointment and still no hint of identifying the way to beat them is immensely frustrating for a club as accustomed to winning as Real Madrid, and doesn't bode well should their paths cross in the Champions League.

Surely the most important thing at present though is the five-point Liga lead that they boast over the team who win everything, which sees them rated [1.64] favourites to finish first.

By turning last night's loss - and the likely cup exit to follow - into a disaster, Real Madrid fans and media run the risk of sabotaging a title challenge that is right on track, as I feared could happen when writing this.

They have after all won 22 of their last 24 fixtures, and are [1.24] to boost that figure further when they entertain Athletic Bilbao on Sunday.

Comments (2)

1. Anonymous | 19 January 2012

   The reason Real lost is because they playedwith onlh 10 men after the second hlf as Ronaldo pced about the central line through the match. And Morino did not sub him. It does not matter how gooda player you are if you are tired you need to be substituted. Benzema and Pepe and really all worked very hard to carry Ronaldo and any wonder why they were tired and lost. Benzema was all over the place. How can a player be all over the plac helping others. Really see the second half and see for your self where had Ronaldo spent all second half.
   First half he was good and run back to help and he was finished.
   ANOPTHER THING I HAVE NOTICED ABOUT RONALDO IS HE LIKES TO RECEIVE GOOD PASSES BUT HE VERY RARELY MAKE GOOD PASSES TO TOHER AS HE LIKES TO SCORE HIMSELF AND MAY BE HE DOES NOT LIKE OTHERS OT SCORE MORE THAN HIM. IF YOU DO NOT BELEIVE ME WATCH THE MATCH AGAIN AND SEE HE MADE 3 PASSESS TO BEN AND NONE WERE GOOD. ANY WONDER WHY IT IS SO DIFFICULT FOR TOTHERS TO SCORE. BEN IS THERE AS IF TO PROVIDE BALL TO RONALDO AS IF HE IS HIS SERVANT.
   

2. Kelly | 20 January 2012

   Any player who is unable to control his temper on the pitch of play does not have sportsmanship behaviour and should therefore be taken away from the game of football.