Marc Cucurella proved exactly why he is the perfect Jose Mourinho player vs Barcelona

Real Madrid have done it. They were able to beat Barcelona at their own ground for just the second time in the last five years after a brilliant 2-1 win over the Catalans on Sunday night. A brace from Kylian Mbappe was more than enough for the team to win their biggest match of the season, as they are now right back into the title race, where they have always belonged.

A lot of the credit goes to the individual performances of some of these players, who knew that this was the game to lock in for. Real Madrid did not have a single starter who looked out of place or without any focus.

However, if there is one player who deserves absolute credit for the win, it is Marc Cucurella, and that is not up for debate.

That is not to say Cucurella was Real Madrid’s best player on the night – although that statement is not far from the truth – but the way he played was exactly what Real Madrid signed him for, and that is exactly why Jose Mourinho got him at the club.

Jose Mourinho loves players like Marc Cucurella

Cucurella was brilliant against Lamine Yamal on the night, and it was not just because of the way he defended. It was also the way he fully went with the emotion of Barcelona fans already hating him for joining Real Madrid. It was the way in which the player tried his hardest to get into Yamal’s head – going up to him on every occasion, some fouls to let Yamal know that he’s there, some physical force to know that he will not let the youngster walk all over him, and that deserves a lot of credit.

That is exactly how you play against a player of Yamal’s calibre, but also Yamal’s inexperience. Yamal has not had many full-backs play the way Cucurella played against him, and he will remember that for quite some time.

Cucurella is the type of player his team’s fans would adore, but the rivals would absolutely hate. He feeds off that energy and wants more of it whenever he plays in these big games. That is how you get into your opposition’s heads, and that is why he is the perfect player for Jose Mourinho.

If you look at all of the manager’s previous stints, there have been so many players who would do anything for the badge, as well as play ridiculously physical on many occasions to do what Cucurella did to Yamal, and it is no surprise that Mourinho loves those kinds of players.

Cucurella has not had the best of games so far during his time at the club, but his performance against Yamal was the best any full-back has played for Real Madrid in a while, and it was brilliant to see.

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