Mourinho slides in celebration as Real Madrid relaunch with 2-1 Clasico statement
Mourinho’s knee slide caps Madrid comeback in Barcelona
José Mourinho had already done the por qué?, the printout and the press conference no-show in under 100 days. On Sunday night at Camp Nou he added a knee slide, and in the perfect place: back where it all began and where it can all begin again.
When Kylian Mbappé scored the first in the clásico, Real Madrid’s manager hardly moved, sitting in the shadow of the bench. When the striker got the second to win it with time running out, that was different. Mourinho leapt into the light, threw himself to the grass, the knees of a 63-year-old’s trousers muddy as a schoolboy’s, stuck his tongue out and pumped his fists.
“He does so love it when a plan comes together,” the report notes, as the bench emptied and subs sprinted towards the south-west corner amid bottles thrown from the stands. Six hundred kilometres west in Boadilla, Thibaut Courtois watched from the sofa at home after waking with flu on the morning of the game.
“We have the best goalkeeper in the world, but none of us cried because Thibaut couldn’t play,” Mourinho said. The coach called up Andriy Lunin and told him: “You train to play, not to sit on the bench, so go on.” Lunin later produced an astonishing save from Gerard Martín and was cited by the manager for the way Madrid won: “with calmness and totally deservedly. We did it by being organised, concentrated and having the courage to come out from the back.”
Tactical shift and key moments
Thirteen years after his last Clasico in Barcelona, Mourinho guided Madrid to a 2-1 win. Barcelona arrived on a nine-game winning streak, averaging 4.3 goals per game, while Madrid had already lost twice. The result cuts the gap and changes the narrative of the early La Liga 2026-27 season.
“If you leave here nine points behind, it’s very heavy psychologically; if it’s six, it’s more balanced; if it’s three, that’s different,” Mourinho said. The win puts Madrid three points behind Barcelona, with Federico Valverde claiming it “will give us a kickstart”.
Mourinho has now gone six consecutive meetings with Barcelona without defeat. The final shot count was 18-10 to Barcelona with 62% possession for the hosts, but Madrid were more incisive.
Defensive resilience was evident: Dean Huijsen saved a shot with his face, and six Barcelona shots were blocked. João Cancelo insisted: “That’s Madrid; they don’t have many chances but they score them.”
Madrid attacked with intent down the flanks. Yan Diomandé, 19, got more touches than any Madrid player in his first clásico. Marc Cucurella got under Lamine Yamal’s skin, and Yamal missed an extraordinary chance just before the break with his second-half shot fading just past the post.
The winning goal was a flash of inspiration with Jude Bellingham going all Nureyev, the ball flitting between his feet and Gabriel Jesus’s legs, pirouetting to release Eduardo Camavinga.
Midfield reshuffle
Before the game Rodri said one of Madrid’s tricks is to convince you they’re not that good. He felt that plan, as did Pedri. Bellingham dealt with Rodri, Bernardo Silva with Pedri, and neither truly took control.
The inclusion of Arda Guler and Silva – the surprise in the middle, starting his first league game in six weeks – underlined an intention to keep the ball. From the back Madrid tried to build, drawing Barcelona in.
Changes were visible since Rome: Valverde and Aurélien Tchouaméni no longer the partnership in the middle, Valverde going to right-back instead. Guler played, Diomandé played, and Vinícius Júnior did not.
“I’m not stubborn; I can change,” Mourinho said. Madrid have won five in a row now, every game since Vinícius was suspended. Before the clásico Mourinho said it wasn’t fair to compare his side in construction with Barcelona. After it he admitted: “We have improved, we can’t hide that.”
“I’ve learned something about the middle of the pitch; I have learned that a mixture is better, that it is better to have a combination of qualities than two players of similar characteristics,” he added. In short, Tchouaméni and Valverde together doesn’t work.
Sunday came as confirmation, a hope, an identity emerging. As the teams left, “Fucking get in!” echoed along the Camp Nou corridor. Hay liga, as they like to say. There is league. There is Madrid too.