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JOSE MOURINHO was utterly focused on Lionel Messi, as disclosed by his former Real Madrid players.
The Special One’s first period at the Bernabeu lasted three years, from 2010 to 2013.
Amidst the fierce rivalry with Barcelona, Los Blancos secured the 2011 Copa del Rey and LaLiga the following year, briefly interrupting Pep Guardiola’s dominance.
However, each time Real faced Barca, Mourinho was mainly focused on neutralizing Messi.
In his self-titled Netflix documentary, Mourinho admitted he often lost sleep over the exceptional talent from Argentina.
Former Real midfielder Sami Khedira – who is now back at the Bernabeu as Mourinho’s assistant – revealed, “Preparation for the matches was quite entertaining because we spent two minutes discussing Barcelona.
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“Then it turned into 40 minutes focused on Lionel Messi.
“He meticulously planned every detail.
“At times, he shifted player positions, with Pepe playing as a No.6 and then Sergio Ramos.
“The main concern was, ‘How can we stop Lionel Messi?’”
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Mourinho remarked: “I was having a nightmare. ‘What can we do to stop him?’
“From the very first [El Clasico], I recognized that we couldn’t outshine them simply by imitating their tactics.
“To beat them, we needed to distinguish ourselves both on and off the pitch.
“We were rivals in football, competing for the same trophy, league, and Champions League. I believe that competition was valuable.”
Barcelona dominated the initial LaLiga El Clasico under Mourinho, winning 5-0 at the Nou Camp, while the return match at the Bernabeu ended in a 1-1 draw.
While Barca excelled in the Champions League semifinals, Madrid succeeded in defeating their bitter rivals in the Copa del Rey final.
Left-back Marcelo elaborated on the mentality instilled by Mourinho.
He stated: “Jose treated every match like it was a final.
“He ingrained in us and shifted our mindset.
“We began to approach those games as if our lives depended on it, as if winning was crucial.”
This mentality resulted in a clash between him and captain Iker Casillas after Mourinho found out that the goalkeeper had contacted Barcelona midfielder Xavi to promote peace among their Spanish national teammates.
Spain celebrated triumphs in Euro 2008, the 2010 World Cup, and Euro 2012 with one of the greatest generations of players.
However, Mourinho was uninterested in niceties and demanded nothing short of total dedication from his Real Madrid players in the intense rivalry against Barcelona.
At that time, he labeled Casillas a traitor.
Mourinho, who revealed in his documentary that he had agreed to take over from Sir Alex Ferguson at Manchester United in 2013, stated, “I always maintain that in any scenario, when you want to deliver a message, you don’t focus on the smaller players; you concentrate on the big ones.
“There are principles I won’t accept, and disrespect toward me is one of them.”
“I made it clear, ‘This is Barcelona-Real Madrid. You can be friendly when you’re with the national team, but not now. This is a war.’”
