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What's the story?
Former Real Madrid boss, Jose Mourinho, has opened up on the Sergio Ramos-Lionel Messi collision in the first half of weekend's El Clasico at the Bernabeu.
During the final few moments of the first half, Real Madrid skipper, Sergio Ramos, collided with Lionel Messi with a flailing arm, leaving the Argentine down on the turf, covering his face. After that, the two captains shared some heated moments as the referee, Alberto Undiano Mallenco, decided that no action was required.
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In case you didn't know..
In the past month, the two rivals have met three times, with the Catalans drawing one and winning the other two fixtures. After qualifying for a record sixth consecutive Copa del Rey final after beating Real Madrid 4-1 on aggregate, the Catalans came to the Bernabeu for the second round of league fixture with their arch-rivals.
Having won yesterday's fixture, the Catalans now sit 12 points clear of Real Madrid, on the top.
El Clasico is known to be one of the heated fixtures in world football. Keeping up to the rivalry and the friction between the two outfits, tempers start flaring on the pitch whenever the two sides meet, even when in a pre-season friendly.
The heart of the matter
During Jose Mourinho's tenure with Real Madrid, the rivalry between the two clubs took to a new level, as both Pep Guardiola and the Portuguese became rivals, themselves.
Talking about the collision between Sergio Ramos and Lionel Messi, the Portuguese tactician said:
"I think Sergio Ramos' action probably is coming from a player that knows the game has to change.
"And probably he does it with the intention of creating a different temperature for the second half, because the game until then was really soft, in my opinion."
"I think in the first half, both teams when they had the ball, they did not hurt the opponent too much," he said.
"There was no intensity on the defensive actions, with everybody playing in a low-medium block.
"It was not the temperature of a derby, of a Clasico that can settle the title.", he added.
What's next?
With 12 points separating the two, the La Liga title is far from Real Madrid's reach. However, they must now focus on the Champions League clash with Ajax in the midweek.
Sergio Ramos will miss the next two Champions League game (including the Ajax one). The Madrid skipper has been handed an extra one-match Champions League ban by UEFA for intentionally picking up a yellow card against Ajax in the first leg.
