"The worst of his career": what did Mourinho produce in his first Clasico against Barcelona?
The Portuguese acknowledged Barça's superiority at the time
Jose Mourinho returns to the Camp Nou tomorrow for a Clasico against Barcelona, desperate to avoid a repeat of the nightmare that marked his first meeting with the Catalans as Real Madrid coach. That day brought a crushing defeat he branded at the time as "the worst of his career".
His debut in the fixture could hardly have gone worse. Barcelona thrashed his side 5-0 at the Camp Nou on 29 November 2010, in the 13th round of the Spanish league, a result that laid bare the scale of the task he faced in matching Pep Guardiola's team.
Real went into that match unbeaten through the first 12 rounds, and Mourinho had yet to lose a single official game with the club since taking charge in the summer of 2010.
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Barcelona stamped their authority early. Xavi Hernandez opened the scoring in the 10th minute, Pedro Rodriguez made it two in the 18th, and the hosts went in at the break two goals to the good.
Mourinho responded at the restart with his first change, sending on Lassana Diarra for Mesut Ozil. It made no difference. David Villa struck twice in quick succession, in the 55th and 58th minutes, both from decisive Lionel Messi passes, before Jeffren Suarez wrapped up the rout in the first minute of stoppage time.
The numbers told the story of the chasm between the two giants. Barcelona enjoyed 66% possession against Real's 34%, and fired off 15 shots to just 5, hitting the target six times compared to two for the visitors.
Things turned even uglier for Los Merengues in the closing minutes. Sergio Ramos saw red after an assault on Carles Puyol.
Mourinho held his hands up afterwards. He acknowledged Barcelona's superiority, called the defeat the worst of his coaching career to that point, and admitted his team had played very poorly against an opponent at their exceptional best.
