José Mourinho dedicated Real Madrid’s El Clásico victory to the Barcelona fans who gathered outside his team’s hotel, responding to their chants with a sarcastic message following the conclusion of the match.
The Portuguese manager guided Los Blancos to a 2-1 triumph at Spotify Camp Nou, courtesy of a Kylian Mbappé brace, in a match after which he discussed the fans, officiating, player sacrifices, and the key to breaking down Barcelona’s defense.
“I dedicate this victory to the Barcelona fans who didn’t let me take my afternoon nap at the hotel today. They came and sang all day long, so I couldn’t sleep. Well, I didn’t sleep, but I beat their team. A big hug to them,” Mourinho said.
Regarding the officiating, he added: “The referee was fantastic, but VAR was sleeping in the 60th minute. There was a clear red card for Cancelo’s challenge on Diomande.”
Continuing about his Ukrainian goalkeeper, he stated: “Lunin was unbelievable, and no one asked me about him. I’m sure you would have asked if we had lost,” after the goalkeeper stepped up to guard Real Madrid’s net in the absence of Thibaut Courtois due to the flu.
He elaborated: “Let me talk about Fede Valverde. He kept playing despite being injured for more than 40 minutes. He refused to come off, fought through the pain, and gave everything he had for the team.”
On his tactical instructions to the provider of the winning goal, he explained: “I told Camavinga: go and attack the space. It’s difficult for any striker to attack spaces against Barcelona, and the only solution is to do it with midfielders.”
He continued: “When strikers do it, Barcelona’s defense is prepared and drilled for it, ending up in an offside or a intercepted pass by Joan García. The solution is using midfielders like Camavinga and Bellingham to break that line, and it worked.”
He concluded: “In my view, Real Madrid doesn’t play just to win at Camp Nou; we play to win La Liga. That is the required mentality. We must continue this way and avoid over-celebrating this victory,” after narrowing the gap with leaders Barcelona to three points.
