Barca’s win down to luck, moans Mourinho

NEVER renowned for taking a loss with grace, Jose Mourinho put Real Madrid’s weekend 3-1 defeat in ‘El Clasico’ down to luck.

France forward Karim Benzema poked Real into an astonishing lead after 23 seconds — the fastest ever El Clasico goal — following a dreadful clearance by Barca keeper Victor Valdes, straight to the feet of Angel Di Maria.

Alexis Sanchez equalised with a clinical finish shortly before the half-hour mark and Xavi’s deflected volley and Cesc Fabregas’ brilliant back-post header — both of which came from quick breaks following glaring misses by the disappointing Cristiano Ronaldo — gave Pep Guardiola’s side a 3-1 win which moved them level on points with their opponents and to the summit by virtue of their head-to-head record.

The Portuguese coach pointed to a Cristiano Ronaldo miss that could have given his side an early 2-0 lead and changed the complexion of the game.

“Luck plays a part,” he said. “When it was 1-0, we could easily have gone 2-0 up and maybe under normal circumstances we would do, but Cristiano has put it wide.

The Portuguese also said that Barcelona’s star forward Leo Messi might have been sent off on another night, having escaped a booking for a late challenge, minutes after being cautioned for dissent.

“I thought Messi could have been sent off, but until I see it again I won’t say more in case I’m wrong,” Mourinho said.

Barcelona coach Pep Guardiola declared himself delighted after his side’s victory but warned Mourinho’s side will quickly bounce back in the title race.

Madrid had won 15 straight and still have a game in hand as Barca head to Japan for the Club World Cup.

“I am delighted with the performance,” Guardiola said. “Madrid will recover. To win here, you have to play a very good game and we have done that. But there is still much to do and Madrid will again be the leaders if they beat Sevilla. There are no champions in December.”

Guardiola also voiced confidence in his goalkeeper Victor Valdes, who gave the ball away for the opening goal and looked shaky in the early going before making some crucial saves later on.

“Winning here is always worthwhile and challenging, and you can see that in the performance of Valdes, who after conceding early has not taken another hit,” he said.

Elsewhere, two injury-time goals from Ruben Castro saw Real Betis spring a major surprise by beating third-placed Valencia.

The visitors had gone ahead midway through the second half thanks to Jose Antonio Dorado’s own goal.

However, Castro headed home to level before firing a second to earn the Andalucians their first win in 11 and ease some of the pressure on coach Pepe Mel.

Levante beat Sevilla 1-0 go to level on points with Los Che.

Nano bundled home the only goal 10 minutes into the second half after a terrible mix-up between Emir Spahic and Javi Varas left the defender with the easiest of finishes from a yard.

Villarreal and Real Sociedad drew 1-1 yesterday, while Sporting Gijon recovered from heavy defeats in the past two weeks to record a comfortable 3-1 victory at Rayo Vallecano.

REAL MADRID: Casillas, Fabio Coentrao, Pepe, Sergio Ramos, Marcelo, Alonso, Diarra (Khedira 63), Di Maria (Higuain 68), Ozil (Kaka 58), Ronaldo, Benzema.

BARCELONA: Valdes, Dani Alves, Pique, Puyol, Abidal, Xavi, Busquets, Iniesta (Pedro 89), Messi, Fabregas (Keita 78), Sanchez (Villa 83).

Ref: David Fernandez Borbalan