The Catalan powerhouse could no longer keep quiet and answered the Portuguese a week after losing the cup to him.
THE CLASSIC
The rivalry between Barcelona and Real Madrid reached new and restless heights between late 2010 and early 2012, expanding beyond the pitch as much as on it. That era saw Pep Guardiola steering Barcelona to unprecedented performances before he announced his departure from the club, and it placed Jose Mourinho, familiar with Guardiola from their time together under Bobby Robson, in charge of the white team at Real Madrid.
LIVE | FOLLOW BARCELONA VS. LIVE HERE REAL MADRID FROM LALIGA 2023-24
Despite this shared near-mentorship in prior roles, sparks quickly flew. The two coaches framed a maelstrom of classics defined by intensity, aggression, and narrative depth that enveloped both squads and their supporters.
The first clash that season, in November 2010, ended 5–0 in favor of Barcelona. They reclaimed the La Liga lead that evening, delivering a blow to a Real Madrid side then keen to reassert itself. Mourinho accepted the defeat, though the match left wounds that lingered: gestures from players like Piqué and Valdés toward teammates who might have felt offended echoed the bitterness of that afternoon.
The second meeting at the Bernabéu carried no particular spice in the scoreline: a 1–1 draw with both goals from penalties. The referee’s calls were questioned, and the game carried an undercurrent of tension that would swell a few months later as the two men clashed more openly in the press and in player confrontations.
Everything about FC Barcelona
Real Madrid achieved their first official victory over Barcelona in Mourinho’s tenure when Barcelona, still reeling from a handball controversy earlier in the season, fell to Real Madrid in extra time of the Copa del Rey final in Valencia. The match again left a trail of on-pitch clashes, brutal tackles, and a chorus of Culés lamentations as Mourinho savored the moment of triumph and what it signified for his project.
A week later, on April 26, Mourinho and Guardiola faced the media around the first leg of the Champions League semi-finals. The Portuguese coach opened the exchange, criticizing Guardiola’s rhetoric about refereeing success and declaring a new era under a different group dynamic. Guardiola’s response was sharp and unforgettable. He challenged the notion of rivalry in a way that would go down in history: the pitch would be the arena the following evening, and the exchange on the field would be decisive.
Guardiola did not mince words: the upcoming clash would decide much more than who advanced. He reminded Mourinho of their four-year working relationship and insisted that if the Portuguese preferred the company of Florentino Pérez’s allies, that was fine, but Guardiola had his own history and his own team to lead. The exchange carried a charged tone that exceeded the friendship they once shared, signaling a permanent shift in how the two men would be perceived by fans and players alike.
Guardiola also praised Real Madrid’s performance and succinctly acknowledged the officiating challenges that night, noting the offside decision could be traced to a centimeter’s difference. The same press conference saw Wolfgang Stark named as a referee, and the dynamics surrounding that decision would linger in conversations around the tie. Stark’s decision to send off Pepe for a straight red came early in the second half and added to the sense that the stage was set for a dramatic European showdown.
From that moment, the relationship between Mourinho and Guardiola deteriorated. Mourinho’s sharp criticisms of refereeing in both legs of the semi-finals fed fan debates, and Barcelona fans celebrated their team’s continued dominance, including the Spanish Super Cup triumph earned in two games in August. The season culminated in a moment of tension as Tito Vilanova, Guardiola’s successor, responded with a strong public show of defense toward his club and players, a gesture that Mourinho read as provocation but that only hardened the antagonistic climate around the Clasico.
Across those two seasons, Real Madrid and Barcelona met eleven times, a frequency that underscored the deep divisions and contrasting philosophies that defined the era. In 2012 Guardiola departed Barcelona, leaving behind a legacy of tactical innovation, while Mourinho steered Real Madrid to a record-breaking league season marked by an astonishing 100 points and 121 goals. The clashes during this period are often cited as the zenith of the modern Clasico, a series of encounters that not only decided domestic titles but also shaped the broader narrative of Spanish football for years to come. — Goal