Forced Guardiola to run away on vacation.
Today, Real Madrid should become the champion of Spain – a draw in the home game with Espanyol is enough. Most likely, “Madrid” will issue the title three rounds before the finish line. Beautiful, but this is not the most spectacular championship of Real Madrid. In the 2011/12 season, the Blancos suddenly broke the hegemony of Pep’s invincible Barcelona. And they did it in such a way that there was not a single question left – they were the first in Europe to knock out 100 points for the championship.
Mourinho refused to change for Barcelona and dreamed of revenge at Real Madrid
In 2008, Barcelona were looking for a replacement for Frank Rijkaard and became interested in José Mourinho, who had proven quality at Porto and Chelsea. Club vice-president Mark Ingla and technical director Chiki Begiristain had a three-hour interview with the Portuguese: there, the coach gave a powerful PowerPoint presentation, admired the philosophy of Johan Cruyff and spoke about his adherence to the 4-3-3 formation. Journalist Graham Hunter in the book Barça. How the best team in the world was created ”wrote that the Catalan bosses liked everything, except for one thing – the character of Mourinho. Ingla said: “Jose, the problem is that you put too much pressure on the media. Too much aggression. The coach is the face of the club, so you can’t make fires everywhere. It goes against our style.” Mourinho sentenced himself with a laconic answer: “I know. This is my style. I won’t change.” Jose left for Inter, where he won the treble and took revenge on Barcelona in the 2009/10 Champions League semi-final. The Portuguese destroyed the strengths of the Catalans in a corporate style: he motivated the players to the maximum, blocked the opponent’s leaders and crushed them with aggression. With the arrival of Pep, Barcelona became an almost infallible machine and churned out trophies (14 under Guardiola). In 2010, the hegemony of competitors from the Camp Nou oppressed Florentino Perez. The Madrid president has been without a championship since 2008, although he spent 230 million euros on Cristiano Ronaldo, Karim Benzema, Mesut Ozil and Kaka. Pérez needed a charismatic leader who would end Barcelona’s dominance and crush their brand identity. Mourinho, who effectively nailed the “Blaugrana” in the Champions League, looked like the perfect option – angry, motivated and ideological.
Mourinho got rid of Valdano and took all the power in Real Madrid
Jose’s first season at the Santiago Bernabéu was a transitional one, looking for the perfect combination of players and tactics, and the players getting used to his demands. The process was hard. The Portuguese lost the first Clasico humiliatingly 0:5. In the 2010/11 season, Madrid met Barça 5 times – four times in 17 days. The great confrontation ended in favor of Guardiola: he was ahead of Mourinho in the championship, reached the final of the Champions League and gave only the Spanish Cup. The defeat in La Liga looked especially offensive for the newcomer: Jose knocked out 92 points, but remained second. In four of the previous five seasons, this would have been more than enough for the title. The next campaign was a turning point. Mourinho was greatly hampered by sporting director Jorge Valdano, who did not like the selfish style of the Portuguese. During the 2010/11 season, the men quarreled publicly several times.