Spanish Football News Blog

It featured a man running across a football pitch, hand aloft, finger pointed, cheeks puffed out. Not unusual to see a celebratory figure in the sports section, perhaps. Except this one was not in playing kit. Jose Mourinho was wearing a suit, tie and handsome suede Chelsea boots.

After their team's heroic success in overcoming Barcelona to reach the Champions League final, not a single Inter Milan player was regarded as significant enough to illustrate it. Not Estaban Cambiasso, who gave a masterclass in defensive midfield play, not Lucio, surely the best centre-back in the world, not even Julio Cesar, whose elastic-limbed save from Lionel Messi's first-half shot resembled an out-take from The Incredibles.
 
No, everything was about the man in charge. This was characterised as a triumph entirely forged in the technical area: a victory of tactics over skill, of planning over improvisation, of preparation over fantasy. It was the white board win. As one headline pithily put it, this was "the night of Jose Mourinho".

And so the cult of the manager reaches its zenith. Can anyone remember a team boss being as celebrated in victory? Jock Stein, Bill Shankly, Sir Matt Busby – they all received plaudits by the bucketload for sure, but never were they credited quite so unanimously as the sole reason for their side's success.

Even in these times when coaching is considered the highest amalgam of science and art, Arsène Wenger, Marcello Lippi and Guus Hiddink are only reckoned as good as the ammunition at their disposal. Not even Brian Clough was granted, as Mourinho was on Wednesday night, the ultimate accolade: it was he who won the match without kicking a ball.

This is not to say that his input was unimportant. The strategy he employed was perfect. He organised his team into defensive lines to smother the incursions of Messi, not spending too much time worrying about Zlatan Imbrahimovic, who could be left alone to pursue his single-handed campaign to be recognised as the most overrated footballer on the planet.

More to the point, Mourinho has been responsible for instilling a togetherness in his squad that enabled the tactics to work to perfection. In their steely, white-shirted resistance, they resembled England's rugby team playing New Zealand in that warm-up Test before the 2003 World Cup.

Reduced to 14 men, Clive Woodward's team withstood a battering from the most celebrated attacking force in the game. And, just like in Barcelona, no amount of Kiwi bleating about possession statistics, or killing the game, or ugliness smothering beauty could alter the fact that they emerged victorious.

"The style Inter play is the blood style not the skin style," Mourinho said after the game. "When the moment of leave everything on the pitch comes, we don't leave the skin, we leave the blood."

His introduction of such Grand Guignol imagery was typical of the man. It might seem like praise for his players, but really its hyperbolic swagger – and his use of plural pronoun – ensured it was really about him: this is a team prepared to die for him. Which is always his trick. Nobody plays the modern football media better, nobody, not even Sir Alex Ferguson, is as adept at drawing the focus on to himself, thus allowing his players to relax away from attention.

Even those no longer in the dressing room feel the benefit of such selfless monopoly of the limelight. Now employed as an ambassador by Inter, Luis Figo, a man regarded in Catalonia as beneath contempt for switching from Barça to Real Madrid, said he had not felt as relaxed walking into the Nou Camp in years. It was, he said, because he knew the locals hated Mourinho even more than him.

Yet there is evidence that the man himself suffers the occasional twinge from the image he has constructed. At Inter, he developed a siege mentality in the squad by painting himself as the loathed outsider, despised by the Italian coaching establishment. It worked brilliantly on the pitch. But clearly there was a cost to his own ego.

The way he talks about his standing in Italy suggests regret that he is not more admired in the land of the coach. In the end, what he loves most is to be loved. Which is why he likes England so much: we are slaves to his rhythm.

Thus wearied by Italy, he is said to be looking for a new pastures. And for many Jose watchers, next month's Champions League final at the Bernabeu is set up as a handy audition. He has already endeared himself to Madrid loyalists by winning in Barça with a team dressed in white. A victory over Bayern on their ground would surely convince Madrid's hierarchy, bruised by yet another season of European underachievement, that he is the man they need.

But it won't be a simple appointment for either party. Managing Real Madrid would prove the definitive challenge for the Mourinho way. This has never been a club in sway to the cult of the manager. Coaches there – even those as elevated as Fabio Capello – come well down the order of priorities, below superstar players, prima donna presidents and the most demanding fans on earth.

To go there and take control as he has everywhere else in his career would signal the most significant shift in football power even he has engineered. For Mourinho to become the story at Madrid would be the final testament to his genius.

Source: The Telegraph

Spain coach Vicente Del Bosque believes striker Fernando Torres will be fit in time for this summer's World Cup, despite recently undergoing a knee operation which will see him miss the rest of the season with his club Liverpool.

Del Bosque is sweating on the fitness of several key players ahead of the World Cup, but believes Torres will be ready.

"Torres recently had an operation, but he has a great will to get back and be fully fit in time for the World Cup," he said.

Meanwhile, Torres himself says the intensity of playing in England could leave him with chronic injuries later in life.

"I just can't imagine what state I'll be in within five or six years if I continue to play here - it could easily give me problems when I stop playing," he told the News of The World.

Source: Mirror Football

Inter Milan produced a fine first-leg display as they came from behind to beat holders Barcelona and take control of their Champions League semi-final.

Barca, who dumped Arsenal out in the last round, went ahead when Maxwell's left-wing cross found Pedro to slot in.

Inter levelled as Wesley Sneijder fired in right-footed from a Diego Milito pass and Milito then teed up Maicon to control and slam home to make it 2-1.

Milito nodded in after Sneijder miscued a header to put Inter firmly in charge.

The result gives Barca a mountain to climb in the second leg in Catalonia next Wednesday as they seek to become the first team since AC Milan in 1990 to defend their European title.

They quickly secured the advantage of an away goal, but will be concerned by how badly things went wrong thereafter as Inter coach Jose Mourinho won the tactical battle with counterpart Pep Guardiola.
   
After an indifferent start, Inter produced a performance of which Barcelona would be proud; pressing high up the pitch and hitting Barca on the break with pace and incisiveness when they won the ball back.

With Lionel Messi subdued, Inter cashed in on their supremacy in devastating style and the Italian champions now stand on the brink of a first appearance in the final since 1972.

Yet it all started in typical fashion for a Barcelona side used to having their own way, as Guardiola's men dominated the early stages at the San Siro.

They capitalised on a Milito miss after Victor Valdes had saved from Samuel Eto'o, the visitors surging up the other end as Maxwell was allowed to get to the byeline down the left and pull the ball back for Pedro to coolly roll home his 20th goal of the season.

Inter were seeing less of the ball than their opponents, but they were dogged in defence and threatening in the final third and after Milito bent a hugely presentable chance wide, they equalised on the half-hour mark.

As Eto'o crossed from the Inter right, the Barca defenders all got sucked into the middle, including right-back Daniel Alves - and when Milito turned and teed up Sneijder, the Dutchman had the freedom of the park to lash in an equaliser.

Barca, denied space with which to operate, were struggling to find anything like their usual fluency as Inter doubled up on Messi and denied the influential Xavi the time to spray passes around.
Wesley Sneijder levels for Inter
Sneijder keeps his cool to level matters for Inter

Just after the break Goran Pandev failed by inches to latch on to Milito's ball from the right, but the Italians did not take too much longer to get themselves ahead.

Messi lost the ball in his own half and Inter broke with pace, the ball finding its way to Milito on the right-hand side of the area. The Argentine took his time and picked out the marauding Maicon as the Brazilian took a touch and rammed past Valdes.

Barca, perhaps weary after their 14-hour coach trip to get to Milan, tried to respond, but Messi's shot and Sergio Busquets' header were both well saved by Julio Cesar in the Inter goal.

On the hour mark, Mourinho's men took firm control of the tie. They broke quickly again and after Sneijder had completely misdirected his header from an Eto'o cross from the right, Milito was on hand to nod in from point-blank range.

Having looked comfortable early on, now Barcelona were flustered and even Xavi was misplacing passes, much to the delight of the Nerazzurri faithful.

But Barca recovered their composure to lay siege to the Inter goal in the closing stages and they will wonder how they did not at least narrow the deficit going into next week's tie.

Messi's 30-yard free-kick forced Julio Cesar to parry, before Alves was denied what appeared to be a good penalty appeal when he fell under Sneijder's challenge in the area. To rub salt into the wounds, the Brazilian found himself cautioned for simulation.

As the clock ticked down Gerard Pique - switched from centre-back to a target man role as Barca pressed for a goal - and Pedro were both denied by Julio Cesar as Inter clung on to their formidable advantage ahead of a daunting trip to the Camp Nou.

Source: BBC Sport

Barcelona took a huge step towards successfully defending their Spanish title with a key win over Real Madrid.

The architect of Barca's win was Xavi, who in the first half picked out Lionel Messi, with the Argentine controlling the ball and firing past Iker Casillas.

In the second half Xavi's pass sliced apart Real, with Pedro collecting the ball and curling a shot past Casillas.

Soon after Rafael van der Vaart missed a golden chance for Real, while Victor Valdes made some key saves for Barca.

The win moved Barca three points clear at the top of the table and leaves Real with a real struggle on their hands to wrestle the title away from Pep Guardiola's side with seven games to play.

"It's a big blow but they can't consider themselves champions yet," said Real coach Manuel Pellegrini after the game.

Cristiano Ronaldo was overshadowed by Messi and Xavi, with the Barcelona captain providing midfield control for the visitors.

Without Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Guardiola adopted an unusual and adventurous attacking formation, flanking Messi with Daniel Alves and Pedro.

As Barca adapted to that tactical switch, Ronaldo gave Barca some nervous moments with a couple of slaloming runs, with the Real forward claiming a penalty after he went over Gerard Pique's legs.

Fresh from his four-goal haul against Arsenal in midweek, Messi might also have been awarded a penalty as Raul Albiol appeared to take the Argentine's legs when he cleverly checked his run to outwit the Real defender.

Messi then picked up a yellow card for handball, with Xabi Alonso also booked for a tackle on Pedro.
   
Messi was soon giving Albiol more problems and the Real defender became the third player to be booked after he hauled the Argentine down as he motored towards the penalty area.

Not long afterwards Albiol was outwitted for a third time by Messi and this time there was no reprieve for Real.

Xavi's exquisite chipped pass picked out Messi, whose superbly timed run beat Real's offside trap and after wrongfooting Albiol, the world player of the year slipped the ball past Casillas.

With Barca dominating possession, Real struggled to pressurise the visitors' defence, though Alonso might have done better with a close-range header, while Higuain shot wildly over.

Guardiola rejigged his formation for the start of the second half, withdrawing Alves to his more familiar right-back role.

As Real searched for an equaliser the home side looked for Ronaldo at every opportunity.

At long last Real forced Valdes into a save, the Barca keeper moving quickly to his left to save Marcelo's deflected shot and then getting down to hold a Ronaldo effort.

But almost immediately Barca went 2-0 up with Xavi skewering the Real defence to release Pedro, whose precise left-footed shot curled round Casillas' outstretched glove.

Guti came on for Real and immediately pepped up the dispirited home side by freeing Van der Vaart who should have reduced the deficit, only to shoot straight at Valdes.

The Barca keeper played an important part in the champions' win making a series of saves to deny Fernando Gago and Ronaldo.

However Casillas was equally busy, twice saving from Messi, when it seemed certain that the Argentine looked certain to score each time.

Messi also came in for some rough treatment, notably from Sergio Ramos, who should have been booked for a wild swing at the Barcelona forward. Ezequiel Garay also went in wildly on Pedro and was deservedly booked.

In the final five minutes veteran Raul had the ball in the net but the goal was disallowed for a handball by Karim Benzema.

"We came to play the leaders who have won 15 out of 15 matches here this season so we are delighted," said Guardiola. "We won comfortably. It wasn't brilliant but you have to bear in mind we were playing a great team."

Source: BBC Sport