Angel Di Maria has recalled how Jose Mourinho instructed Real Madrid players to confront Barcelona during the Portuguese manager’s first spell at the club, saying they were told that “the only way to beat Barcelona was to hit them”.
The Argentina international was reflecting on the highly charged rivalry between the two sides during Mourinho’s time in charge of Real Madrid. His comments were reported by Sport as he revisited a period when Barcelona, managed by Pep Guardiola, dominated possession and made life extremely difficult for their opponents.
Di Maria pointed to Real Madrid’s 5-0 defeat by Barcelona at Camp Nou as one of the clearest examples of the struggle faced by Mourinho’s side.
“I do not think I have played a match in which I touched the ball so little as in that 5-0 at Camp Nou,” Di Maria said.
“I was trying to press, but the ball was never where I was going. It was unbelievable.”
The winger also remembered the intense sequence of matches between the clubs, with decisive meetings taking place within a period of no more than 20 days. Those fixtures included the Copa del Rey final and a Champions League semi-final.
The atmosphere surrounding the games contrasted sharply with the relationships between several of the players when they met while representing Spain. At international level, many of the protagonists were team-mates and friends, but that familiarity disappeared during El Clasico.
“With the national team, everyone was friends and they easily overcame any team they played against,” Di Maria said. “But when they played against each other, they were throwing punches.”
Di Maria’s challenge on Messi
Di Maria also recalled an incident involving Lionel Messi during the 2011 Copa del Rey final, when he brought down the Barcelona forward to stop a counter-attack.
“I apologised to him, but if you do not bring him down, you cannot stop them from scoring,” he said.
His recollections have resurfaced ahead of another meeting between Real Madrid and Barcelona on Sunday evening, with the match scheduled for the 10th round of La Liga.
The fixture has added significance because Mourinho returned to the Real Madrid dugout at the beginning of the current season. His first spell in charge was marked by a series of fiercely contested encounters with Guardiola’s Barcelona, including the heavy defeat at Camp Nou and the tense cup and European meetings that followed.
Di Maria’s comments offer a reminder of the pressure and hostility surrounding those matches, as well as the contrast between the players’ fierce club rivalry and their close friendships within the Spain national team.
