Mourinho’s Madrid beats Barcelona 2-1 at Camp Nou as plan comes together
José Mourinho watched Real Madrid relaunch their season at the Camp Nou on Sunday night as his side beat Barcelona 2-1, the manager ending the evening with a knee slide and a late celebration after the winning goal.
Mourinho returned to Barcelona for a clásico 13 years after he last managed there and guided a side that had lost twice already to a victory over a Barcelona team that had won nine in a row and been averaging 4.3 goals per game. The win leaves Madrid three points behind Barcelona; Federico Valverde said it “will give us a kickstart”. Mourinho observed: “If you leave here nine points behind, it’s very heavy psychologically; if it’s six, it’s more balanced; if it’s three, that’s different.”
Kylian Mbappé scored the opener and, according to the report, “the striker got the second to win it with time running out”, completing the 2-1 scoreline. The match produced an 18-10 shot count in Barcelona’s favour and 62% possession to the hosts; the xG was recorded as 1.19 v 1.94. The coverage also described a winning-goal sequence involving Jude Bellingham, Gabriel Jesus and Eduardo Camavinga: “a flash of inspiration with Jude Bellingham going all Nureyev, the ball flitting between his feet and Gabriel Jesus’s legs, pirouetting to release Eduardo Camavinga.”
Real’s goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois missed the game after waking with flu; Mourinho said: “We have the best goalkeeper in the world, but none of us cried because Thibaut couldn’t play.” The coach brought in Andriy Lunin and told him: “You train to play, not to sit on the bench, so go on.” Lunin produced a crucial save from Gerard Martín and the night ended with Mourinho sprinting to the touchline, sliding on his knees while substitute players and staff celebrated amid bottles thrown from the stands.
The match exposed periods when Barcelona were hurried and imprecise — Rodri urged his team to lower their “pulse rate” — and Lamine Yamal missed an extraordinary chance before the break, one shot fading past the post. Dean Huijsen at one point blocked a shot with his face; Barcelona’s attempts were frequently smothered, with six blocked shots noted. João Cancelo said: “That’s Madrid; they don’t have many chances but they score them.” Lunin summed up Madrid’s approach as “discipline and attitude.”
Mourinho adjusted his midfield and personnel, moving Federico Valverde to right-back and changing the central partnership that had featured Aurélien Tchouaméni. Arda Guler and Bernardo Silva started — Silva making his first league start in six weeks — while Yan Diomandé was singled out for a strong performance in his first clásico aged 19, registering more touches than any Madrid player and helping to cover the full-back. Mourinho commented on his own flexibility: “I’m not stubborn; I can change,” and later added: “We have improved, we can’t hide that.” He also reflected: “I’ve learned something about the middle of the pitch; I have learned that a mixture is better, that it is better to have a combination of qualities than two players of similar characteristics.”
The result extended Madrid’s winning run to five matches and interrupted Barcelona’s domestic streak; newspaper reactions included El País’s headline, “The best Madrid is born at the Camp Nou,” and AS’s cover: “Madrid are here now.” Mourinho tempered the excitement with a reminder of the work ahead, saying: “I won’t let them have their heads on the moon; if we win this and then don’t win at the Sardinero, it won’t mean much.”
Victory moves Real Madrid within three points of Barcelona in the table and, according to Valverde, should provide momentum for the coming fixtures; Mourinho’s caution about the Sardinero underlined that he views the result as a start rather than a conclusion.