Will it be another Hell Clasico?
Even by current Spanish standards it seemed unlikely and so it proved. Seven frantic minutes later the referee blew the final whistle and Madrid had lost their second home game running and José Mourinho his second home league game in a month after going nine years unbeaten. In itself it was an irrelevant match for Madrid, although not for Zaragoza who are now just about safe from relegation It could be more significant for tonight’s game and also for Mourinho’s future.
This match has ceased to be a sporting contest and become more like a war: a petty war, a war of puffed up pride and pomposity on both sides, but a war all the same. As with all petty wars the danger is that the participants become locked into it.
Denunciations have been flying hither and thither between Catalonia and Castile as if they were medieval principalities. Madrid have been denounced for contumely — I believe that is the traditional expression — while Barcelona have been denounced for sorcery.
Both principalities have naturally appealed to higher authority, UEFA in this case playing the part of the Holy Roman Emperor, wanting somehow to keep on the right side of both Princes while putting that pesky Portuguese mercenary in his place.
On the Real Madrid website there is a film showing the selected crimes and blunders of tonight’s Belgian referee, Franck de Bleckeere, veteran of last year’s Barcelona-Inter semi-final, when Inter were reduced to 10 men after theatricals from Sergio Busquets.
On YouTube, various versions of the first leg diving highlights are available, including several somewhat botched fakes. Madrid have alleged that the shenanigans were pre-arranged — an allegation rejected by UEFA, although they could still take action against individual players.
Not to be outdone, the Catalan sports paper Mundo Deportivo alleged yesterday that the evil Castilians have decided that if they have to go down tonight they will take Barcelona with them. “The whole world takes it as a given that Mourinho’s men will fall against Barca. So the first order of the day at the Bernabeu is: die killing.
“Real Madrid will do everything possible to ensure that the maximum number of players miss the final at Wembley ... The tactic is to provoke Pep Guardiola’s men so they get sent off. The ‘chosen ones’, so to speak, are Leo Messi, Sergio Busquets and Dani Alves.”
Fortunately the players on both sides have been seeking to calm things down.
“We should be talking more about football and not about other matters,” Xavi told journalists yesterday, and as far as that’s concerned Mourinho’s men have a mountain range to climb rather than a mountain. They not just are two goals down, but defenders Pepe and Sergio Ramos are suspended and midfielders Fernando Gago and Sami Khedira injured.
Mentally Madrid looked badly out of sorts against Zaragoza, although they recovered some of their spirit in the second-half when they were two goals down. “It was my fault” said Mourinho afterwards. “The players were not properly prepared.” Nor were they in the first leg, even though unlucky to be reduced to ten men.
THE question is whether Madrid, with the great attacking forces at their disposal, can somehow win enough possession to put pressure on a Barcelona defence that is not always secure. Barcelona also lost on Saturday, to Real Sociedad, conceding twice in the last 20 minutes.
Will Mourinho give Cristiano Ronaldo — rested on Saturday — the back-up he needs to be the focal point of the attack? Is Kaka an option, with or without Ozil or Di Maria?
And will he risk Marcelo’s defending again or perhaps opt for the switch Rafa Benitez used a few years back and play Alvaro Arbeloa on the left to have more chance against Messi when he cuts inside?
A lot will depend on the man on the bench. Not Mourinho, but his most trusted lieutenant, Rui Faria, the man who’s been with him for 10 years. Rarely in the limelight, he is nominally the fitness coach, though nowadays rather more than that.
The odds are so heavily stacked in one direction now it is hard to see anything other than a Catalan victory, but the way Real Madrid play as much as the result will be a pointer for the future of both clubs, as well as that Portuguese mercenary.
