Chapter 575 - 43: Full Firepower
The next match is El Clásico between Real Madrid and Barcelona.
The atmosphere for El Clásico had started to build up a week ago.
At this moment, Real Madrid is in high spirits, and Barcelona is also in excellent form. Both teams are gearing up to start their winning streaks and invincible journeys.
The winner of this match will likely secure the league’s mid-season championship.
Not to mention, in this match, the biggest favorites for the Ballon d’Or will collide like Mars crashing into Earth.
In the coach’s office at Real Madrid, a storm is brewing in Mourinho’s mind; he’s terrified at the thought of a particular possibility.
It can’t be Chen Zhong!
It cannot be Chen Zhong!
Mourinho quickly dismissed this dangerous thought from his mind.
Anyone could be the mole, but if the mole is Chen Zhong, the one to be ousted can only be him, Mourinho!
When Mourinho first arrived at Real Madrid, he was confident, thinking he had the support of Mendes’ players, the backing of the higher-ups, and had won the transfer rights, allowing him to act without any reservations.
He quickly calmed his heartbeat and began to focus his statements on the upcoming El Clásico.
Throughout Mourinho’s coaching career, he has received 8 red cards and was suspended 10 times, which, from a professional coach’s perspective, is not a glamorous record.
However, Mourinho elevated what should have been considered a breach of moral conduct to the height of psychological tactics. No coach, like the Portuguese, could masterfully grasp the scale of "humiliating" referees and football association executives to win a special kind of psychological battle that changes morale and fighting power.
The Porto Derby in 2002, the night they won the Portuguese Primeira Liga in 2003, the UEFA Cup semi-final in 2003, the League Cup final in 2005, the Italian Derby in 2009, the "handcuffs" incident in 2010...
These classic suspension cases of Mourinho almost all demonstrate his unparalleled cunning wisdom.
For the arrogant Portuguese genius, a red card is precisely his trump card, a killer move he has refined to perfection.
Recently, some rumors suggest that Guardiola is extremely upset by Mourinho’s comments to the point of being unable to endure them. At a private gathering, he even revealed to friends his desire to escape from here.
Is Mourinho purely targeting Guardiola?
Maybe he is!
But in fact, since August 2002, when he led Porto in his first full season, Mourinho realized that a coach could attack opponents not only on the tactical level but also on the psychological level.
It’s worth noting that, in a sense, Mourinho is also a learner.
In a Porto Derby, Mourinho experienced the opponent’s tricks at their home ground: Boavista’s chairman occupied the elevator, preventing him from accessing the upstairs locker room, and the opponent’s stadium security blocked the stairs, forcing Mourinho to communicate with the players in the locker room via phone.
After the match, he was squeezed out of the stadium by angry opponents, greeted by thousands of furious home fans...
This was Mourinho’s first red card, but it also made him realize for the first time: he could potentially have a greater impact off the pitch.
Red cards can certainly be designed as a highly effective tactical weapon.
Since then, every red card Mourinho received came with unpredictable tactical designs, and people even have reason to believe: each time he got sent off, the benefits he gained outweighed his presence on the sidelines.
Before the globally sensational "Frisk" incident in the spring of 2005, Mourinho had already orchestrated a red card drama in April 2003 with his own hands.
In the UEFA Cup semi-final, Porto faced Lazio at home, leading 4-1 before the end. When Lazio’s winger Castroman was about to take a sideline throw-in, Mourinho took action—Lazio’s striker Lopez had scored a goal for Barcelona when Mourinho was there and scored one in this match too.
To prevent the opponent from scoring the crucial second away goal, Mourinho deliberately tugged at Castroman.
Thus, a justified red card secured the 4-1 final score.
More critically, this red card only caused him to miss the second leg away match, allowing him to appear as desired in the final.
Similarly, in the spring of 2005, Chelsea faced two life-or-death battles. After losing 1-2 to Barcelona in the first leg, they needed a win in the League Cup final against Liverpool to maintain enough morale to face the advantaged Barcelona.
Mourinho made sensational claims about Swedish referee Frisk and Barcelona coach Rijkaard having secret contacts, causing uproar and investigations by UEFA and The Football Association.
Moreover, he orchestrated an incident in the League Cup final: after Gerrard’s own goal equalized for Chelsea in the 80th minute, Mourinho celebrated wildly, provoking Liverpool fans with a hush gesture, just like when he defeated Ferguson at Old Trafford a year earlier.
Soon after being sent off with a red card, Chelsea, who was not dominating the field initially, saw their players’ morale boosted, scoring twice in extra time to turn the tide.
Three days later at Stanford Bridge, Chelsea, who had just paid the price for courage to win their first trophy, took a 3-0 lead in the first 20 minutes against an overly confident Barcelona and finally advanced with a 4-2 win.