Mourinho stirs up Guardiola
This time it's personal. Barcelona's coach, Josep Guardiola, finally exploded, sending a year of pent-up anger and frustration gushing forth as he responded to Jose Mourinho on the eve of the Champions League semifinal against Real Madrid.
Mourinho had pricked Guardiola's pride once too often by accusing him of complaining about referees who get decisions right. It was an accusation that Guardiola, normally so measured, was not prepared to let pass the last straw after a year that has been a war of attrition. Guardiola was finally drawn into battle. "He called me Pep, so I answered," Guardiola said at the end of a breathtaking 45 minutes. "Normally, he talks in general terms about a team, a club or a manager, but this time he named me. If he says: 'Pep,' I say: 'Hey, Jose.'"
He said more than "hey". Sitting down in the press room at the Santiago Bernabeu, he said: "As Mourinho has spoken so candidly about me and spoken about me by name, and using tu [the informal form of you], then I will do the same." He then asked which of the gathered cameras was "Mourinho's camera" and began.
"In this room [Real Madrid's press room], he is the chief, the f***ing man. In here he is the f***ing man and I can't compete with him. If Barcelona want someone who competes with that, then they should look for another manager.
Mourinho had provoked Guardiola by referring to comments his rival made after Madrid's victory in the Copa del Rey final last week. Guardiola had noted that his side had been close to winning: had a Pedro goal not been ruled out for a very close but correct offside, described by the coach as "the linesman's good eyesight", Barcelona might have taken the trophy.
"A new era has begun," Mourinho said on Tuesday. "Until now there were two groups of coaches. One very, very small group of coaches that don't speak about refs and then a big group of coaches, of which I am part, who criticise the refs when they have mistakes people like me who don't control their frustration but also people who are happy to value a great job from a ref.
"Now there is a third group, which is only [Guardiola], that criticises referees when they get decisions right! There is a new meaning to [football] now. In his first season [Guardiola] lived the scandal of Stamford Bridge [in the semifinal], last year he played against a 10-man Inter. Now he is not happy with refs getting it right. I am not asking the referee to help my team. If the referee is good everyone will be happy except Guardiola. He wants them to get it wrong.”
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