La Épica GUERRA de CLÁSICOS entre el REAL MADRID de MOURINHO y el BARÇA de GUARDIOLA (2011)

A decade ago the matches between Real Madrid and Barcelona paralyzed the world of football. The 2010-

2011

season brought four Clá

sicos

in 3 frenetic weeks where the most tense moment of a century-old rivalry was reached. Today, in Football Memories, we remember the unforgettable Classic War between Guardiola's Barça and Mourinho's Real Madrid. With the arrival of Pep Guardiola to the Barça bench in 2008, a new dynasty was established in European football. The Xavi, Iniesta, Puyol and Messi formed an unrepeatable generation that beat Madrid 2-6 at the Santiago Bernabéu and achieved a Sextete to remember. In the summer of 2009, Florentino Pérez returned to Real Madrid with million-dollar signings and, after a year of transition, he hired José Mourinho to try to counteract the Barça dominance.

The coach from Setúbal had eliminated Barça in the last Champions League and, after preventing the Catalans from lifting a European Cup at the Santiago Bernabéu, he established himself as the perfect antihero to counteract the Tiki Taka culé. The white team started the 2010-

2011

League better and arrived undefeated in the first Clásico with two points ahead of Barcelona. On Monday, November 29, 2010, the Camp Nou hosted a long-awaited duel where all eyes were on the benches and the duel of the last two Ballon d'Or awards; Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo. The match seemed very close and Mourinho did not reserve any attacking players.

The Madridistas went out to the Barça fiefdom to play face to face but Barcelona seized the ball and overwhelmed it with an avalanche of offensive football. As soon as he started, Messi smashed a Vaseline against the post and, shortly after, Xavi managed to beat Casillas. Mourinho's men threatened to respond but Barça protected themselves with the ball and after an eternal collective play, Pedro scored the second goal of the night. Cristiano began to lose his temper against the local dominance and after a scuffle with Guardiola the first brawl of the season broke out. Messi and Barça seemed unstoppable and in a beautiful second half, the Blaugranas overcame the Madridistas.

Villa scored 2 goals almost in a row and Jeffren closed the account for a historic Manita. Barça's superiority over Madrid that night generated unbearable tension that began before the end of the match with the expulsion of Sergio Ramos. Merengue frustration turned into rage and opened a wound that would grow larger months later. After that football lesson, Mourinho reacted by dressing up as a villain and raised his voice about referees and calendars to try to make a Barça that seemed unstoppable uncomfortable. With Madrid behind in the League, both teams reached the Cup final and were paired in the Champions League semifinals.

For the first time in history, the calendar showed 4 classics in just 18 days in which Madrid and Barcelona would play for the 3 titles of the season. With the Madridistas 8 points behind Barça in the championship, the Bernabéu hosted the first battle. Mourinho surprised by lining up Pepe as a midfielder and the Brazilian gave more aggressiveness to the team. Barcelona was more uncomfortable than ever and Messi threw a ball into the stands that increased the tension. The whites were left with ten at the beginning of the second half after a penalty from Albiol and Cristiano Ronaldo equalized Messi's goal also from the fatal spot.

The final 1-1 left the League on Barcelona's plate but Mourinho managed to break the trend of Barça victories. Something was changing... The Portuguese coach warmed up the Cup Classic in the press conference and maintained his defensive approach ahead of the Mestalla final. On April 20, Real Madrid and Barça played out a high-tension match where the pending scores became evident and a climate of unbearable aggressiveness was reached. The referee correctly disallowed a goal by Pedro and after 120 intense minutes, Real Madrid won the title with a header from Cristiano Ronaldo in extra time. The white victory was a relief for Real Madrid and caused nervousness in Barcelona.

The culés complained about the violence of Mourinho's men and the merengues of the Barcelona simulations. The next match begins from the press conference and Guardiola enters the game of the Portuguese coach: Guardiola: If a Portuguese whistles, the Madrid coach will be very happy. We get 8 points from this strong Madrid. A lineman with good vision canceled out Pedro's goal by 2 centimeters. Mourinho: "Pep is the only coach capable of complaining about the referee's success." Tired of receiving blows, the most aggressive Guardiola manifests himself in the preview of the first Champions League match: "José (Mourinho) is the fucking master, the fucking boss of the press conferences and I am not going to compete for a moment with him ". "Tomorrow we play at 8:45 p.m. and I just remind you that we have been together for four years (at Barcelona)." Already on the field, the attacks of both benches explode on the field of play.

The Bernabéu experienced another intense and tough match in which the players of both teams did not stop provoking each other. An embarrassing spectacle that continued with an unpleasant brawl at halftime. The second half had the same course but everything changed in the 64th minute. Pepe was sent off after a controversial challenge on Dani Alves and Mourinho ended up on the bench after his protests. After Pepe's controversial expulsion, Barça went for victory and Messi got the tie back on track with two epic goals. Guardiola's men won 0-2 in the Madrid fiefdom and Mourinho unleashed all his anger at the end of the match: The virulence of the clash has consequences: Real Madrid reports alleged racist insults to UEFA that end up without effect and Mourinho is sanctioned with 5 match suspension.

Madrid and Mourinho play the role of victims and on May 3 they travel to the Camp Nou, considering a comeback impossible. Barça dominated the first half and took the lead with a goal from Pedro. A little earlier the referee was once again the protagonist. De Bleckere mistakenly disallows Higuaín's goal and after Marcelo's 1-1 draw, Barcelona advances to the tie. The 18 days come to an end and Barcelona ends up being crowned European Champion. The League and the Champions League belonged to Barça while the Cup was dyed white. A final balance that left many open wounds and that would end up exploding in the Spanish Super Cup.

After the holidays, both teams seem colder and offer their best version in two great games. The first leg ends 2-2 at the Bernabéu and the second leg ends with a 3-2 in favor of Barcelona. In the last minutes the tension increases again and an unfortunate brawl breaks out next to the benches. Players and coaches end up pushing and Mourinho ends up poking Tito Vilanova (Guardiola's assistant) in the eye. With that sad ending a Classic War ended that pitted half of Spain against two giant teams. The tension decreased after the conversations between the two captains (Casillas and Xavi) and the mutual confrontation ended up wearing down both coaches.

Madrid won the 2012 League of Records and Guardiola left and, just a year later, Tito's Barça ended the Mou era. Beyond the scars of those days, Guardiola's Barça and Mourinho's Real Madrid delighted us with a spectacle that left images to remember and, above all, an unrepeatable level of football that pitted the two best players face to face. and history teams. history.