El Clasico: Mourinho Reveals How Madrid Tactically Outsmarted Barcelona

Jose Mourinho has revealed the tactical tweak that masterminded Real Madrid’s 2-1 El Clasico win over Barcelona at Camp Nou on Sunday night – a win that ended the Catalans’ perfect nine-game winning start to La Liga.

While Kylian Mbappe took the headlines with a brace (41′ and 87th-minute winner), Mourinho said the winning goal was by design.

It was substitute Eduardo Camavinga who changed the game. Introduced in the 80th minute, the Frenchman produced a surging run straight through the heart of midfield to set up Mbappe’s winner from a cut-back.

Asked how his team managed to overcome their biggest rivals, Mourinho said:”I told Camavinga, go and attack the space. It is difficult for any attacker to attack space against Barcelona; the only solution is to do it with your midfielders.

“When your attackers do it, Barca’s defence is prepared and coached for that, and your forwards either end up caught offside or the pass gets intercepted by Joan Garcia. The solution is to use midfielders like Camavinga and Bellingham to break that line, and it worked.”

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The Portuguese tactician said his side were organized, focused and showed courage to play out from the back against Barcelona’s high press.

Despite Barca having 62% possession, 644 passes to Madrid’s 385 and 17 shots to nine, Madrid had the higher xG (1.98 to 1.26) with five counter-attacks.

He also reserved special praise for captain Fede Valverde, who he said played injured for over 40 minutes at right-back, and for Andriy Lunin in goal.

“Lunin was unbelievable, yet no one asked me about him… I’m sure you would have if we had lost.”

On the title race, Mourinho added:”In my view, Real Madrid do not play just to win at Camp Nou. Real Madrid play to win La Liga. This must be the mentality. We need to continue like this and not get carried away after this win.”

The win was Real’s second in eight games against Barcelona and cuts the gap at the top to three points.

James Agberebi is a sports content creator and analyst with a passion for football and other sports. He writes sports news, match reports, and analysis to keep fans informed about the latest developments in the sporting world. James has covered international matches involving both Nigeria’s men’s and women’s national teams. His experience covering Nigerian football gives him a good understanding of the game and the teams he writes about. Through his work with Complete Sports, James shares sports updates, match coverage, and analysis with readers in Nigeria and around the world.