Jose Mourinho maintained his remarkable record against Barcelona as Kylian Mbappe’s late winner gave Real Madrid a crucial 2-1 victory at Camp Nou on Sunday.
Mourinho celebrated the decisive goal with a trademark knee slide, while also becoming only the third Real Madrid manager to go six consecutive El Clasicos unbeaten.
His record in those six matches is four wins and two draws, matching the runs achieved by Miguel Munoz between 1962 and 1965 and Vicente del Bosque between 2001 and 2003.
The result was only Real Madrid’s second win in their past eight meetings with Barcelona, but Mourinho’s return to the fixture proved costly for the reigning champions.
Mbappe scored twice to end Barcelona’s nine-match unbeaten domestic run and prevent their rivals from opening up a nine-point lead at the top of La Liga. Instead, Real Madrid moved to within three points of Barcelona.
“In my view, Real Madrid do not play to win at the Camp Nou, Real Madrid play to win La Liga,” Mourinho said.
“We could win with luck, but we won with calmness and with all merit. It’s a very strong group. Everyone works very hard. Everyone was ready to win.
“The credit goes to the players. When you win, the credit goes to the players. But when you lose, the blame falls on you. And that’s why we see coaches being sacked from their positions every week.”
The Portuguese manager returned to Real Madrid 13 years after his first spell in charge. Sunday’s victory means he has now won six and lost six El Clasicos.
He said the result had demonstrated the quality and mentality within his squad, while highlighting the balance provided by his midfield.
“I’ve learned that I have an extraordinary group, with the quality and mindset to play,” he said.
“In midfield, having a mix of talents gives us more than just having two players with similar characteristics. This mix of talents gives us balance when defending and quality when we go on the attack.
“We’ve beaten several teams by four or more goals, but this is Barca, and the players put on a great performance. We need to continue like this and don’t go over the moon after this win.”
Barcelona manager Hansi Flick refused to use excuses for the defeat, although he acknowledged that his side had lacked freshness after a demanding period.
“We missed the freshness,” he said. “It’s not easy for our players. We have to recover well, train well and we have to respond from this defeat.
“In big games, small things are important and they decide the games and today, it wasn’t on our side.
“I can see that today we were not fresh and this is what we have to change.”
