Mourinho insists Real Madrid will not think about El Clasico until after RB Leipzig Champions League tie

Mourinho parks El Clasico thoughts until after Leipzig

Real Madrid will take on Barcelona in a huge Clasico at Camp Nou on Sunday, but Jose Mourinho says his side will not spend a minute thinking about the fixture until their Champions League assignment is complete.

Mourinho said after Madrid thrashed Sevilla 4-1 in LaLiga on Sunday that the only game on his mind is the midweek European tie. Kylian Mbappe scored a brace in the win, with Arda Guler and Yan Diomande also on the scoresheet.

The victory leaves Los Blancos six points behind league leaders Barcelona, who they face at Camp Nou on Sunday. Vinicius Junior is already banned for the Clasico.

"There is the Champions League to play first, and that's the only game we are thinking about. I won't spend even a minute thinking about our opponent for next Sunday until Wednesday at 11pm," Mourinho said when asked about El Clasico.

Squad rotation and Roma winner

Mourinho defended his selection policy and praised the team's performance against Sevilla.

"There's no way to quantify which 11 players deserve to play the most. Many people deserve to play, and today some came on, and others didn't leave the bench at all. For example, the player who scored the winning goal against Roma [Antonio Rudiger] didn't even play. We had more possession, more control of the game, created a lot, and got the ball to our wide players a lot. It was a very good game."

Guler elbow controversy dismissed

After the 4-1 win, Sevilla boss Luis Garcia was furious that Guler was not sent off for an apparent elbow on Peque Fernandez. Mourinho was bemused by the reaction.

"I don't comment on that. No one has managed to show me what they say happened. I haven't seen a single image," he said. "I've asked my analysts and the TV people for images, and I haven't been able to see any image of the things they are talking about that upset Luis."

Mourinho added: "If one day something happens that I believe benefited us, I'll have no problem coming out and saying it, but I think the opposite is more likely to happen because it's the natural trend of things."

Asked if he had any brief concern about Guler getting suspended for the Barcelona game, Mourinho reiterated: "I haven't thought for a minute about El Clasico, only about winning this game."

He concluded: "For a coach who loses by four goals and is given the opportunity to answer four or five questions about that... it's fantastic because it allows him to talk about other things. When the situation happened, I looked at the tablet and I didn't see anything. Have any of you seen it? That's why I don't understand the obsession with so many questions about this story."