José Mourinho: Gnawing away at the kingdom named Barcelona

Prologue

On the 26th of May, 2009, Barcelona made history. Or rather, they prevented Man Utd from making history by not letting them win the Champions League for the second time in succession, by comprehensively beating them 2-0. What followed was an era of Catalan dominance. The team and club fed off the positive momentum they earned by beating one of the best sides in Europe on a night when nothing went wrong for the Blaugranas. And soon afterwards, they started having many such nights. Therein sprouted the magnificent and beautiful Barcelona, who had everything in their ranks. From pace to power; and guile to skill. Each member of that team slowly became a master of his trade. And quite frankly, as a whole unit, they became unstoppable. No team could find a weak spot, no manager could find an Achilles heel to attack them at. They were dominating domestically and internationally, winning every single competition that they played in. And much to their delight, their eternal rivals Real Madrid seemed far away from their level, no matter how many high-profile stars they bought. Long story short, Barcelona were in “god-mode” and many expected them to be the first team to win consecutive Champions League trophies for the first time ever in the history of the reworked competition.

Domination commences

Needless to say, next season Barcelona breezed through the UCL group stages beating every team at least once. They finished at the top of the pile in group F, losing once to Rubin Kazan on the night when Pep Guardiola fielded a weakened team. Nevertheless, their fourth Champions League title looked eventual, when they brushed aside Stuttgart and Arsenal both beautifully and ruthlessly in the knock out rounds. Everything was peachy, nothing could go wrong. Pep was lauded as the best manager in Europe, Puyol was the best defender, Xavi and Iniesta the best midfield duo and Messi, the best striker. And then… There came a thorn named Mourinho, on the Catalan’s road to glory.

First Blood (In the recent past)

Internazionale had always been a top European team, but they were no Barcelona. No other team except the Catalans were at their level, which had earlier seen them fell mountains with a wayward fart. Not one football pundit expected Barca to struggle; they expected them to destroy Inter. Everyone was preparing for a Nerazzuri genocide, but Jose had other ideas. With the help of a volcano that cannot be named (or should not, for the sake of simplicity) Mou’s boys did the unthinkable. They beat Barcelona, fair and square. Yes, negative tactics (which is as much a part of football as chips and tricks) were deployed, but in the end, it was a job well done. Barca also managed to tarnish their honorable image by reacting badly to the result by animated whining, and turning on the sprinklers while the Inter players and staff celebrated at the Nou Camp. All in all, Jose did what only a few had managed to do for the past two years. Beat the Catalan outfit, and show the world that they are indeed mortal. Later though, Barca managed to win the happy double in Spain and seemed to have regained all the respect that some had lost due to their antics at the Nou Camp.Point to be noted, though, at the end of the season, Mourinho was selected as the best manager in Europe by the UEFA, Maicon as the best defender, Sneijder the best midfielder, and Milito, the best striker. Also, Jose had now won the Champions league with two different Clubs, putting him in the bracket of managers such as Ottmar Hitzfeld and Ernst Happel.Everyone was happy. Everyone was content. Yet, FC Barcelona was still considered the best club side in the world, and many looked upon Mou’s victory as a fluke. And it quite visibly, irked him. So, when the White House from Spain came calling, there was only going to be one answer.

Time to move on…

Ciao Inter, Hola Madrid!

In Spain, Mou’s vendetta against the Catalans started in the worst way possible. A 5-0 thumping at the Nou Camp left the team disheartened, the fans disgraced, and made Barca seem even more immortal. Yet, something didn’t sit right with any keen observer of the game; the air reeked with a dissimilar stench of anomalousness. Something had to give. Throughout the match, Mou remained unchanged. He hardly was his animated self on the touchline, and for once, it looked like he didn’t mind the loss. Even after the mauling, while the Spanish and World media (who had become pro-Barca of late) ate up every bit of the loss, the over-eager, slash-and-burn Madrid board didn’t even give a slight hint of warning to “the Special One”. Almost like he had told them that this was coming.

The next few months went as Mou’s team played catch-up in the La Liga to the Catalan titans, who had taken a considerable lead by the time came the next El Clasico at the Bernabeu. At this point, Jose was a wounded animal, his proud run of nine years unbeaten at home coming to an end not-so-long ago against a Gijon side, who probably had their best match of the season on that particular night.Nevertheless, this Clasico proved to be more of a contest as Mourinho and Ronaldo got the taste of Barca blood for the first time and it ended in a hard fought 1-1 draw. By then, another problem had crept up whenever Mou faced the Catalans; his team would always finish the game with ten men. And with 3 duels left (As Barca and Real had been drawn together in the UCL and had to play the King’s Cup final) in the season, Mou had to do something about it.

Of Silverware, and broken Men

Next up was the Copa del Rey final; and this was Mou’s highlight in Spain. His Real Madrid side edged past Barcelona in an epic 1-0 victory, with the match being extended into extra time after ninety goal-less minutes. This was a big blow to the Catalans. And clearly, they had lost it. Every FCB player started cribbing about the Real Madrid team and how undeserving they were. Xavi came out to say the Cup didn’t matter to him, someone else said that the better team lost etc. And even though Sergio Ramos dropping the trophy off the top of the bus gave them much compensation; Barcelona were jilted. And unlike ever before, they were left shocked. Questions started creeping up, and their manager couldn’t handle them. So much so, that Pep even went on to use the “F” word (twice) while describing Mou, in a press conference. For the first time since the Catalan dominance began, Barca were on the backfoot, and Real Madrid stood toe-to-toe with them. And everyone felt it would account for a helluva hectic first leg in the UCL semi-final El Clasico.

…And it was.

Barcelona were never a naive team. They play beautiful football, but they know when to go down and grind out results. They know when to play dirty, and that’s makes them so dangerous. They are often lauded for it and some even ignore that workmanlike attribute of Barca’s play. Yet, for the first time, their ugly side was revealed to even the most ardent of FCB fans. Every Barcelona player whined, dived, ganged-up on the referee, and used every dirty trick in the book to get an upper hand in the match. The match was a stalemate too, until the Catalan antics prevailed, and Pepe was given a straight RED for a challenge which was a yellow card at most. Suddenly, Barcelona found space to move in the midfield and with that, Messi scored two well taken goals. They got the victory, and a couple of precious away goals in the end, but as of now, Barca lost something big.

Peek-A-Boo. Get up! everybody's seen you.

Every football fan, no matter how pro-Barca they are, were now admitting that their beloved team had played extremely unfairly on the night. Even Rio Ferdinand was shocked when Alves was taken off on a stretcher, and returned two minutes later, to play the whole match. Memories of Stamford Bridge, Thiago Motta and Obrevo crept into mind as comments like, “This is not the Barca I love” and “Divers and Cheaters, FCB” started flowing in on online forums. Mourinho did them no favors by “carelessly” pointing out how and why the Catalans are given preference by the officials. Many pertained to ask, “Why did Barca play like this, when we know they can play beautiful and win?”, and most didn’t have an answer. Yet, the reason was crystal clear. Barcelona just can’t play beautiful and win anymore, not against Mourinho. Jose has seen through them, enough to get them confused and scared. From the “most honorable, most beautiful team” in the world, they have become “Cheaters, and con men” just to defeat the tactics of this one man; and everyone is questioning the fervors that this team gets from the officials on and off the field (as the the Referee came out and said before the UCL match that he loved Barcelona, and Messi was his favorite player, who, oddly, got away for twice elbowing defenders in the ribs); and every pro-Barcelona soul is feeling a part of the gathering heat on the team.

To say all this was Mou’s work, would be wrong. Too much goes on and off the field to blame a team’s downfall on one man (Unless it’s Rafa Benitez). Yet, in truth, Jose had come to Spain to do exactly this. A team like Barca can’t be disshelved from the top in just one season. It takes time and patience to break down a team as dominating as Barcelona, and set up one’s own legacy. But Mourinho is well on the way. If the Real Madrid board sticks with him even if Barcelona knocks them out in the Champions League, in another years’ time, Madrid might just be the dominant force in Spain again.

…Don’t believe me? Well, the last time I checked, Mou’s already won a competitive trophy with Madrid this season, before Pep and his Barcelona side. Co-incidence? Luck? I don’t think so. No one knows what the future holds, but at the moment, the future is not looking as glum for the Special One, as people are making it out to be.