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What's the story?
Barcelona cult figure Francesc Satorra, who later came to be known as 'The Observer', has opened up about Jose Mourinho's infamous eye poke on former Barca assistant coach Tito Vilanova in 2011.
In case you didn't know
Satorra was in charge of match logistics at Barcelona for four decades and gained cult status after the infamous El Clasico incident.
In 2011, Barcelona played host to arch-rivals Real Madrid at the Camp Nou in the Spanish Super Cup. Argentine talisman Lionel Messi scored the match-winner in the 88th minute but the game was marred by confrontational scenes as a result of a Marcelo challenge on Cesc Fabregas.
It was then that Real boss Mourinho was caught poking the eyes of Pep Guardiola's assistant coach Vilanova, due to which he faced a ban and a fine.
Satorra, who was not involved in the incident, went viral after being captured with a poker face during the incident.
The heart of the matter
Vilanova, who later became the Barcelona manager for the 2012-13 season, sadly passed away in 2014 at the age of 45.
Speaking about the eye poking incident, Satorra was quoted as saying,
"The Tito and Mourinho incident was one of the worst brawls I’ve seen at Camp Nou. It was at the end of the game. I came out and I found Mourinho going to greet Tito -- but then he poked him in the eye.
"I couldn’t believe it for a few seconds, then Tito pushed his arm away. That image appeared all over the world. They told me it was a trending topic; I didn’t know what it meant at the time.
"From that point on they called me ‘The Observer,’ now that’s something that forms part of my image. Since that day, people have wanted to take photographs with me.
"They made shirts with my picture on. A lot of players have wanted to take photos with me, too."
What's next?
While Pep Guardiola is currently managing Manchester City in the Premier League, Mourinho is without a club after being sacked by Manchester United last December.
