Life is always interesting in the Barcelona – Real Madrid territory, with Jose Mourinho speaking his mind about the Spanish, European Club world Champions with the usual bitter taste in his mouth, while Dani Alves speaks up against the Portuguese manager and his words.
Before Real Madrid played their cup match against Ponferradina, which ended in a comfortable 5-1 win and 7-1 on aggregate for Real (the Copa Del Rey holders), Jose Mourinho had some words to say about the up coming match, and of course, when asked about Real’s and his huge rivals, the man couldn’t hold his tongue.
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Mourinho did begin with a couple of surprising praise lines – Barcelona are a great team, and it’s a privilege to fight for the title against them. But soon turned to the usual – If Real Madrid would have been playing in a different league, we would be winning the championship easily.
Mourinho was then asked about his thought regarding Barcelona’s achievements and their place among the greatest teams in history – I’m too young for that. I congratulate them on winning the Club World Cup but winning the Champions League is more important than winning those two matches.
Maybe he was referring to Barcelona’s wins over Santos and Al-Sadd, which aren’t impressive at all, despite the bounty of goals. Maybe he was referring to Barcelona’s Clasico wins, saying that the Champions League is more important, downplaying Barca’s achievements anyway.
Two facts – Barcelona are the Champions League title holders right now, winning it two out of the last three years and three times since 2005-2006. On two occasions, Jose Mourinho was knocked out of the way. Mourinho himself led Inter to the Champions League title, beating Barcelona in the Semi Final.
It all began much earlier, when Jose Mourinho was the manager of Chelsea, with the two teams meeting two years in a row. Despite the history, and the current title situation of recent years, Mourinho couldn’t help himself from taking a dig.
Well, on the other side, Dani Alves spoke for Barcelona. Foul words and news travel fast on the Madrid – Barcelona express line, and the Brazilian wing back had his opinions on Real Madrid’s head coach – Jealousy is a very bad quality in a person. We’re the world champions and it’s infuriating to hear him say things like that. But we’ve known him for a long time, and he always disrespects the achievements of others, even if it’s a title he hasn’t won himself.
Alves has his own opinion about the club he plays for – We’re the best team in the world, you can’t argue with the number of titles we’ve won these past few years. It hurts some people to see us so successful, but we don’t care. Mourinho’s been chasing Neymar for a long time, but after we beat Santos, his team, we didn’t get the praise we deserved.
Alves managed to complete two sentences without mentioning Mourinho – Our game is incredibly balanced. I feel privileged to play for such a team. Guardiola? He’s the brain, the heart of it all. I hope he stays on for many years to come.
I always find it amusing that there’s always someone at Barcelona that once in a while feels compelled to answer Barcelona. Guardiola does it once in a while, now it was Alves’ turn. Mourinho did praise Barcelona before having a go at them, and that’s better than usual. Taking a look at where Mourinho’s at, you can’t expect him to simply praise Barcelona.
You shouldn’t be doing that on any team, but especially not when you’re part of their biggest rivals. He always creates interest and some controversy with his words, but as long as he’s not lying or going way out of line by his controversy and conspiracy claims, it all should be taken in good fun.