Ex-Real star claims Mourinho’s Barcelona game plan was ‘hitting’ and ‘kick’, fearing for friend Messi
Jose Mourinho has long been known for his dark arts, ever since he arrived in the Premier League in 2004 and even still as Fenerbache boss.
The Portuguese is often recognised as a manager so set in his ways and unwilling to adapt; a trait that has seen him left behind in the modern era of football while his arch nemesis Pep Guardiola has been success wherever he has been.
Even while in the dugout spearheading Real Madrid‘s Galactico’s from 2010 to 2013, the dark arts were present even then, Mourinho’s former player Angel Di Maria admitted.
Di Maria was Mourinho’s first signing at the Santiago Bernabeu where he spent four years, and the Argentina winger confessed that he recalls Mourinho had asked his players to go the extra mile to win in the Copa del Rey final against Barcelona in 2011.
Di Maria said: “The only way to beat that Barcelona was by hitting, putting in and running more than them. And that somehow led to madness on the field.”
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In Mourinho’s three seasons in the Spanish capital, he failed to win the Champions League, though winning La Liga once. That particular period of Barca under Guardiola was almost impossible to beat, and is still widely regarded as the greatest football team of all time.
Di Maria continued: “At times I was afraid that they would injure Lionel Messi. I was more concerned about nothing happening to him than anything else.”
Di Maria and Messi share a great relationship, having been in the same dressing room for a number of years while on international duty for Argentina and putting the icing on the cake together as they won the World Cup in Qatar in 2022. The duo both scored in the Lusail Stadium that night.
On the clash against the Catalan giants, Di Maria recalls: “The game in Mestalla was very hard, that final was kick and kick. At one point, I had to kick Leo, who was going against us.
“I lifted him up and said: ‘Sorry Leo, but if I didn’t take you down you could score.’ I had no other choice. It was playing that way. It was impossible to stop.”
At the time, both teams included stars across the pitch, but it was Barca’s quality that constantly shun through. Real went onto win that game 1-0, with Di Maria providing a beautiful cross for Cristiano Ronaldo’s powerful header to trump their arch-rivals to the title.
