Clasico: 13 years later, does Mourinho still have the antidote to Barça?

Recalled to the Madrid bench to end FC Barcelona's dominance, Portuguese coach José Mourinho must prove on Sunday, during the first Clasico of the season, that he still has the antidote to the collective play of his Catalan arch-rival.

He may insist that returning to Camp Nou - still under construction - is "nothing special", but the legendary Barcelona stadium holds a special place in the career of the Portuguese coach.

From his beginnings as an assistant to Bobby Robson, then Louis van Gaal, on the Catalan bench, to the worst humiliations suffered with Real Madrid, via his historic revenge with Inter Milan in the Champions League, the "Special One" has experienced it all.

The Madrid coach even became "public enemy number 1" in Catalonia, building his legend by his frontal opposition, and by all possible means, to the Barcelona style of play, embodied by Pep Guardiola and Lionel Messi.

It is with this label, which the former Chelsea coach readily boasts of, that Mourinho will make his return to the Camp Nou, thirteen years later, with a similar mission: to stop at all costs Barça, double Spanish champion in title and undefeated leader of La Liga, on their way to a third consecutive title.

Inverted dynamics

His men will arrive on Sunday six points behind at kick-off, and without the collective certainties of their rival, but with better momentum, after two large victories (4-1) against Sevilla FC and RB Leipzig.

"It's true that we're on a good run, we're winning our matches, we're playing pretty well, we're scoring goals, but in a Clasico, everything you've done before has no influence," Mourinho cautioned.

"I believe that the people who thought, a week ago, that Barça was going to humiliate us, still think that. It's not because Barça lost in Paris and we beat Leipzig that they're going to change their minds," he said.

If the contest were purely football-related, Barça would indeed seem to have the upper hand, even after their first defeat of the season against PSG (4-2) in the Champions League. But they are never truly dominant in these kinds of hard-fought matches, especially when Mourinho is on the bench.

Mbappé vs. Lamine Yamal duel

This may not be enough to win, something Real Madrid have only managed to do once since the arrival of German coach Hansi Flick in the summer of 2024. But the Portuguese coach has soldiers to stop the Barcelona collective machine (Rüdiger, Bellingham, Valverde, Cucurella), arrows to pierce it (Mbappé, Diomandé), and an archer to launch them (Arda Güler).

The French striker, injured during the last Clasico in May which secured the title for Barça (2-0), has proven that he is, almost single-handedly, a lethal weapon against Barcelona's young guard. Even though his flashes of brilliance have, until now, often been in vain, except last season, at the same time, during his first Clasico victory (2-1) under Xabi Alonso.

A few hours before the Ballon d'Or ceremony on Monday evening in London, which the captain of Les Bleus is more eager to win than ever, the Madrid striker will be at the heart of a duel of stars against Lamine Yamal, another candidate for the trophy, with the desire to rebalance his record against the Catalan prodigy: two wins for ten losses, with PSG, Real and the French national team.

The outcome of this global shock will, in any case, have no impact on the votes, which closed almost a month ago. But it will offer the two men, who have a strong chance of finishing on the podium, a platform undoubtedly far more effective than their respective interviews to bolster their candidacies.

AFP