The Barcelona v Real Madrid thread

[Neil Young]

I wonder which 6 players they want banned I'm thinking - Pedro, Busquets, Alves, Pique, Xavi, Messi and Iniesta (didn't even play!)

1. That's seven.
2. The six are named in the article.
3. Call yourself a mod?

I think they should also be charged with holding on for the ball for to long and not letting the opposition having a go.

[RichC]

1. That's seven.
2. The six are named in the article.
3. Call yourself a mod?

hangs head in shame

[Neil Young]

[Vermilion]

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R_kl_WXoQQs"]YouTube - The Redmen TV: Jose Mourinho's Barca Rant (In English)- Real 0-2 Barcelona[/ame]

[CJ]

Kenny thinks he's a cunt aswell. Awesome.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-1382260/Jose-Mourinho-allowed-overshadow-Lionel-Messi--Kenny-Dalglish.html

Every team in the world thinks the referee is biased towards the opposition. Small clubs complain that decisions always go in favour of the big clubs. Big clubs believe they have been targeted by referees.

It's all paranoia, of course. I don't think this notion of preferential treatment actually happens. Jose Mourinho is possibly the most paranoid of all, famous for his outbursts about match officials. Or maybe he does it seeking to gain a psychological advantage, I'm not sure.

I have to give him the benefit of the doubt and assume he believes what he's saying. But I don't think he will find many who agree with his opinions after Real Madrid's first-leg defeat by Barcelona last week.

Not only that, I don't think the footballing community at large will be shedding many tears that the socalled Special One came off a distant second-best against a manager, Pep Guardiola, whose club, for the most part, are based on quality and dignity.

Lest we forget, amid the post-match hype, it was Mourinho who started the mind games before the Champions League game by saying he hoped Madrid would finish with 11 men. If he thought it meant referee Wolfgang Stark would be more lenient, he was wrong. Pepe got sent off, probably rightly, and Mourinho's claim that it was a scandalous decision doesn't hold water. Pepe and Sergio Ramos, who was sent off against Barcelona earlier in the season, are both in double figures for red cards in their careers. They can't all be unfortunate or coincidental.

And when you sit back against a team like Barcelona and allow them to dictate possession, as Mourinho appeared to instruct Real, you are going to commit a lot of fouls.

But what separated this from previous Mourinho rants was his attempt to demean Barcelona's success in recent years. What was a particularly huge disappointment for me was for a successful and capable manager like Mourinho to question the credibility of Barcelona's trophies, particularly his claim he would be 'ashamed' to have won the Champions League as they did in 2009 because of refereeing decisions they got at Chelsea.

I don't think that is one of Jose's strongest arguments - and that is putting it mildly. A club with the stature of Barcelona, with a man of Guardiola's dignity, and who once worked with Mourinho at Barcelona, deserve much better than that.

I would think anyone who has been successful has had the benefit of a favourable refereeing decision at some time, Mourinho included. He got the benefit himself in his first Champions League title when Paul Scholes had a goal disallowed and Porto went through against Manchester United.

The reason Barca have been so successful is because of the quality and ability they possess, nothing else. Pepe's sending-off might have been debatable to some, but others would say he deserved to go for a high tackle. It didn't smack of a conspiracy from the German referee.

Guardiola handled himself brilliantly, his message was that referees should be left to get on with their jobs and not be put under pressure in press conferences.

Mourinho's Porto team indulged in gamesmanship when they beat Celtic in the 2003 UEFA Cup final, with Deco just one of the offenders going down too easily. Porto won the match but Celtic got all the sympathy afterwards.

Because of Mourinho, Real Madrid won't get much sympathy now - and they don't even have the consolation of winning the game! The big shame is that Mourinho's behaviour has overshadowed Barcelona's quality. I would rather have talked about Lionel Messi's brilliance in scoring one of the best Champions League goals of all time.

But in the real world, the story 'Man gives money to charity' will never get as much publicity as 'Man steals from charity'. So we've all focused on the bad (Mourinho) rather than the good (Messi).

What next for Mourinho? Inevitably, there will be speculation about him coming back to the Premier League. He has had a fantastic career; he does things his way; he is supportive of his players and he is newsworthy, so obviously he will be attractive to some people.

When you think where he started in football, it is commendable what he has done. You don't find many players saying anything but admiring things about him, so he must be a good guy even if you don't agree with what he says.

The politics of Real Madrid are well known and if they don't let him manage his way, they risk losing him. But I think he will want to stay at least another year to try to get his revenge on Barcelona.

In the meantime, this most divisive of characters will have to accept that many people will be enjoying his pain in defeat.

Accusing Barcelona, who are held up by everyone as great examples of how to play football, of not being 'clean' champions was an insult too far.

so i take it the King is biased against madrid.

interesting how he points out if you play defensive and invite the team on to you then you are more likely to give fouls. Not the first time it has been said on here.

[Rudo]

The bitter off-field feud that has accompanied the Champions League semi-final between Barcelona and Real Madrid turned into a racism storm when José Mourinho's assistant coach, Aitor Karanka, hit out at Uefa for overlooking the abuse allegedly directed at the Real Madrid full-back Marcelo by Sergio Busquets. Karanka claimed that tomorrow's semi-final second leg was of only "secondary importance" in the face of Uefa's failure to act to defend fair play and the abandonment of ethics in the sport.

"There will be a player on the pitch who racially abused another player," the Madrid assistant coach said, "while others who have done nothing wrong won't be there."

Karanka's comments come in the light of a video released by Real Madrid on Monday that they claim shows Busquets calling the Madrid full-back Marcelo a "monkey". They also came hours after Uefa announced that it had rejected the complaint made by Real Madrid against eight Barcelona players for "persistent and premeditated unsporting behaviour". Uefa likewise resolved not to act on the complaints made by Barcelona against Mourinho, saying that European football's governing body would be the "sole judge".

The Barcelona coach, Pep Guardiola, insisted Busquets had merely made a "mistake" and that it would be up to Uefa to decide if he should be punished. "I know these players. They are an example of professionalism," said the Barcelona coach. "They love this sport. Some of them, during the game, can make a mistake but as players they are exemplary both for Spain and for Barcelona." Asked if he would punish Busquets he said: "We are not proud when they make mistakes but I know these players. If we do something wrong, then Uefa have to decide. It won't happen again."

Uefa's statement made no specific mention of the alleged racist abuse but Madrid's assistant coach brought the issue to the fore after Real's release of the footage. In a piece about tomorrow's referee, Frank de Bleeckere, on Madrid's website and the Spanish version of their TV channel, the voiceover expressed a desire that the official would not fall into Barcelona's trap and that there would be no "disrespect" from the players. The comment came over a shot of Busquets cupping his hand to hide his words and saying something to Marcelo. Real's subtitles showed "mono, mono" – "monkey, monkey".

Uefa did not respond to calls tonight but Karanka made his views clear in the pre-match press conference. "After today's resolution the game itself drops to a secondary issue," he said. "[Uefa is] an organisation which talks about principles like respect and fair play and yet nothing has happened.

"We have seen the images which have been round the world, including a player making racist insults and covering his mouth to try to make it so that you can't see it. But he will be on the pitch, along with others. Other players who have done nothing wrong won't be. That is the most important thing today. The football is not."

Karanka also defended Mourinho's outburst following the first leg, in which he accused Uefa of favouring Barcelona and a series of referees of giving them beneficial decisions. Karanka added that he did not understand why no action was taken against Barcelona players for something that does appear in the rules when there were fines handed out to Real Madrid players for deliberately seeking out cards against Ajax earlier in the competition – which does not appear in the rules.

"A few months ago we were sanctioned for something that is not in the Uefa rule book. Now they are not sanctioning things that are in the rule book," Karanka said. "It's not a case of feeling unprotected but once again there seems to be different measures [for different teams]. Our position is the one that we made clear in our complaint to Uefa. What Mourinho said [after the first leg] was what anyone who had been in the stadium or watching the game on television would have said. This isn't an accusation against Uefa. I'm saying what's in the regulations and what isn't. These are provable and objective things."

The Barcelona midfielder Xavi Hernández had earlier rejected suggestions that Uefa should act against them, describing the complaints as "pathetic and lamentable". He added: "Barcelona have always respected opponents and shown exemplary behaviour. It is logical that Uefa should turn down the complaints. I think it's lamentable and pathetic, everything that is going on – all the complaints and denouncements. It is sad. I would rather just talk about the football."

[Trippendicular]

I can't believe these cunts are still trying to drag it out. Tomorrow's game may be of 'secondary importance' to Madrid, but not to everyone else. I really think this has permanently tarnished Mourinho's reputation, he's never going to recover his credibility.

Obviously if Busquets has said something racist then that is despicable and a big problem, but from the article there's doesn't seem to be much conclusive evidence

[Assassin]

Interesting quote/fact:

"We have 14 players who have come through our youth system going to compete a Champions League semi-final," Guardiola said. "We're very proud of that."

[Darkon]

read Guardiola said that, and it's quite an amazing feat. worlds best youth system

[IN_RAFA_WE_TRUST]

I'm still on page 9, are the other 21 pages worth reading? Or are they all about rudo and Craig?

[Fosterbloke]

Interesting quote/fact:

"We have 14 players who have come through our youth system going to compete a Champions League semi-final," Guardiola said. "We're very proud of that."

Shades of Celtic 67

[kris90210]

I do think Uefa / Fifa need to do something to sort out all this feigning injury ****. Totally ruined the game last week.

I'd like to see them set up a panel which could punish players retrospectively for diving and feigning injury. In fact, pretty much anything the ref misses.

[Rudo]

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ygmGIFz_EP0&feature=player_embedded"]YouTube - Mascherano, Pedro, Busquets - My face hurts[/ame]

[Rudo]

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4YYwvS6rMaA&feature=player_embedded"]YouTube - Sergio Busquets called Marcelo monkey @ Real Madrid - Barcelona, El Classico[/ame]

[Neil Young]

I do think Uefa / Fifa need to do something to sort out all this feigning injury ****. Totally ruined the game last week.

I'd like to see them set up a panel which could punish players retrospectively for diving and feigning injury. In fact, pretty much anything the ref misses.

If players are found retrospectively to have feigned injury then they should be punished by suffering the injury they pretended to have. Specific personnel could be selected for their ability to inflict the appropriate injury. So if someone pretends to have been hacked then Paul Scholes could hack them properly, if it's an elbow in the face, then Kevin Davies, if someone goes down like they've been shot then the only candidate is Ashley Cole, etc.

I think we can all agree it's the only reasonable solution.