José Mourinho framed Sunday’s Clásico as a contest that resists easy conclusions. Real Madrid may be scoring freely during a good run, but he said previous results count for little in a fixture with its own weight. His sharper response came on referee debate, after Barcelona midfielder Fermín López said this week that Madrid’s complaints were getting tiresome.
“What can I say? We get fed up with other things, and yet they keep happening…” Mourinho replied, leaving the source of his frustration unspecified.
Madrid’s season is still taking shape
Mourinho pushed back against treating the Clásico as a test of whether Madrid can compete for trophies, answering: “No, Real Madrid win trophies with Mourinho.” He also argued that comparisons between his side and Barcelona overlook how recently his group began working together.
He said the team had trained for three months, with players joining in pairs during pre-season before the international break interrupted the process. The manager is still assessing the squad and establishing a direction, he said, while players are learning his methods. Madrid are “a long way from being a finished product,” in his view, so measuring them against a side that has been together for years would be unfair.
That context also shaped his response to expectations. Mourinho said people who expected Madrid to be thrashed a week earlier were unlikely to change their minds, regardless of the result. Praise for Barcelona didn’t bother him; he said the team sometimes earns it with its performances.
Respect for Barcelona, without changing the plan
Mourinho praised Barcelona coach Hansi Flick, calling him “a great coach” who is “doing a brilliant job,” and described Lamine Yamal as a great player deserving respect. But he drew a line between respecting an opponent and reshaping Madrid’s approach around one individual.
“It’s one thing to show respect, but quite another to change your plans and structures and lose sight of who you are,” he said. Madrid, he added, would stick to their identity against Yamal or any other player of his calibre.
He played down the setting, too. Asked about Barcelona’s Spotify Camp Nou, Mourinho said it was like playing at a different stadium, but added that facing a strong side was the more significant factor.
Referee questions and match-day secrecy
On referee José Luis Munuera, Mourinho said the official’s identity did not concern him as much as what he described as rule-breaking that remained unresolved. He referred to internal sources and said one name had surfaced three weeks earlier and another now, but that nobody inside the club had confirmed the referee’s appointment to him.
Mourinho also dismissed the idea that Barcelona’s defeat to Paris Saint-Germain would alter the opponent’s confidence. He compared it with the effect a hypothetical 4-1 loss to Leipzig would have had on his own mindset: none, he said.
As for Madrid’s lineup and tactical plans, he refused to offer clues. “You’re clever, but I’m not stupid!” he told reporters, steering the press conference away from questions about who would play. His larger message was that a Clásico carries its own significance: the teams’ recent form and the noise around them may set the scene, but neither provides a reliable script for the match.