One of the major factors in the Barcelona – Real Madrid rivalry is the trash talking, which took it up a notch quite a bit since the arrival of Jose Mourinho. More bad blood, more big egos, more words and actually more matches, although that is a bit of a lucky thing.

Gerard Pique, who didn’t play in the previous Clasico and has been in and out of the lineup due to injuries was somewhere between pleased and disappointed from the 2-2 draw in the Sunday encounter., that left both teams feeling they could have done more, although Barcelona were probably happier, keeping the 8 point lead alive and well.

Pique actually addressed the fact that the match, unlike the previous encounters from the last couple of years, was much more about the football and less about the referee, the Real Madrid uber-violence or the Barcelona diving and whining, which was addressed by Pepe and Mourinho although less than usual.

It’s pretty obvious that things aren’t as tense as they were last season. I think Mourinho understood that he shouldn’t be looking at Barcelona because he isn’t going to find any dressing room problems with us. I don’t think there’s a dressing room atmosphere like the one we have here at Barca. I guess now Mourinho is looking for some social problems at his own club.

Jose Mourinho is usually the one doing most of the talking when it comes to psychological wars with Barcelona. So far, he hasn’t found the same kind or replies he did when he talked about Guardiola, conspiracy theories and what not. Tito Vilanova is rather quiet, looking unchanged in his demeanor throughout matches, whether he likes what he’s seeing on the pitch or isn’t. For now, his players are doing the talking for him, on the field with the results (six wins, one draw) and through the media.