No backing down! Mourinho stands by his comments about Barce

zocoss SG · 2011-04-30T02:07:37+00:00

mourinho is a tactical genuis. He played his midfield high up into barca's defence and retreated them whenever barca moved near the centre line. This made ba...

zocoss SG

Sent to the stands: Mourinho was dismissed from the touchline during the ill-tempered semi-final clash

Barcelona have confirmed a board meeting will be held later today as the club consider action against Real Madrid coach Jose Mourinho.

Mourinho implied the Catalan giants receive favourable treatment from referees and claimed the club had yet to win a 'clean' Champions League title under Pep Guardiola.

The outburst came shortly after Guardiola's side won 2-0 at the Bernabeu in the first leg of their Champions League semi-final with the Portuguese particularly angry at the dismissal of makeshift midfielder Pepe for a challenge on Dani Alves.

Barcelona's directors are due to convene at 5pm to discuss how best to move forward.

A statement on the club's website this morning read: 'There will be an 'extraordinary' meeting of the board to discuss the action to be taken after the events of the Bernabeu.

'Later there will be a press conference (6pm BST).

'At the press conference after the game, Real Madrid coach Jose Mourinho harshly criticised referee Wolfgang Stark and suggested Barcelona receive favourable treatment.

'The Legal Services of FC Barcelona are considering reporting the Real Madrid coach to the Disciplinary Commission of UEFA.'

Mourinho's anger stemmed from the decision of German referee Wolfgang Stark to send off Pepe for a foul on Dani Alves on the hour mark, with the former Chelsea boss being sent to the stands too for his protests.

Mourinho said: 'Guardiola is a fantastic coach, but he has won one Champions League which I would be ashamed to win after the scandal at Stamford Bridge and this year, if he wins it again, it will be after the scandal at the Bernabeu.

'I hope that one day he will win a clean Champions League, with no incidents behind it.'

Is that the way to Wembley? Barca are favourites for the final after Messi scored both goals in their 2-0 win

The first 'scandal' Mourinho was referring to was the Champions League semi-final between Barca and Chelsea in 2009, when the Catalan club progressed through to the final following a controversial second leg in London.

Andres Iniesta's injury-time strike earned Barca an away-goals win, but at the final whistle Chelsea's players confronted referee Tom Ovrebo, who had waved away at least four penalty appeals during the game. Barca would go on to beat Manchester United in the final.

Mourinho, who last season saw his Inter Milan side reduced to 10 men in the second leg of their Champions League semi-final at Barca but still progressed through to the final, did not stop there either in his post-match rant last night.

He added: 'Today it's clear that against Barcelona you have no chance. 'I don't understand why. I don't know if it's the publicity of UNICEF (the club's shirt sponsor), I don't know if it's the friendship of (Spanish football federation president Angel Maria) Villar at UEFA, where he is vice-president, I don't know if it's because they are very nice, but they have got this power. The rest of us have no chance.

'Why couldn't Chelsea reach the final two years ago? It was a miracle that Inter reached the final last year.

'I am here just to ask this question and I hope to get the answer one day.'

Seeing red: Pepe was sent off in the second-half for a rash tackle on Dani Alves

Thumbs up: The Real Madrid manager sarcastically gestures to the referee after being sent to the stands

Regarding the match itself, which saw Lionel Messi score two late goals to earn Barca the victory, Mourinho believes it is now 'mission impossible' for his side to progress through to the final.

However, Barca boss Guardiola is not assuming the tie is already over heading into next week's second leg at the Nou Camp.

'We are a step away from the final, but we will carry on respecting Madrid, very, very much,' said Guardiola, who refused to respond to questions about Mourinho's comments.

'If we start to believe we are already through, Madrid can punish us. We don't believe we are already there (Wembley).'

zocoss SG

Defiant: Jose Mourinho says he had nothing to add to what he said after Real's defeat to Barcelona this week

Real Madrid boss Jose Mourinho remains defiant despite facing disciplinary action by UEFA following his 'inappropriate comments' after Wednesday's Champions League home defeat to Barcelona.

The Portuguese manager implied after his team's 2-0 loss to Barca in their semi-final first leg that the Catalan club receive favourable treatment from referees and claimed Barcelona had yet to win a 'clean' Champions League title under coach Pep Guardiola.

Asked about the UEFA charges he faces, Mourinho, who was sent off during that game, said:: 'I am very well, thank you. I am in good health and working as always. I don't want to discuss this any further and for a simple reason.

'An image is worth more than 1000 words and there are so many images from that game that were shown all over the world, that I have nothing else to add.

'Whoever criticises my words is criticising those images and those who criticise those images think they come from photoshop or are a video montage. But they are real.'

Mourinho said the recent events have only strengthened his bond with the Bernabeu side. The former Chelsea manager joined Real from Inter Milan last summer and still has four years to run on his current contract.

However, reports in recent months have linked Mourinho with a move away from Real at the end of the season.

'To remain at Real Madrid makes more sense than ever before,' he said. "Now I have more willingness to continue in charge of Real Madrid for what this means. This (Madrid) jersey is white, and white now has more significance.'

zocoss SG

Barcelona vice-president Carles Villarubi has hit out at Real Madrid's decision to report the Catalans to UEFA for unsporting conduct and claimed Los Blancos are under the spell of coach Jose Mourinho.

Real announced their intention to report Barca to UEFA on Thursday, with the nine-time European Cup winners angry with what they perceived to be play-acting from their rivals.

It came shortly after Barcelona themselves announced that they would be reporting Mourinho after the Portuguese coach insulted both the Catalan club and Pep Guardiola after Wednesday night's Champions League semi-final first leg.

After the game, Mourinho launched an astonishing attack on Barca, claiming they receive help from UEFA and questioning the club's agreement with UNICEF.

Although Guardiola failed to respond to Mourinho in his press conference immediately afterwards, Barca decided to take action against the Portuguese following an extraordinary board meeting.

But Madrid immediately hit back by announcing on their website their intention to report Barca for unsporting conduct in Wednesday's match. Villarubi, though, says Madrid have no grounds to report Barca.

"What Madrid did yesterday is adhere to something that has already been judged [by the referees]," he told radio station RAC1.

"UEFA, represented by the four officials [at the game], has already made its judgment on this topic, so Madrid have no grounds to report us on this basis."

And the Barca vice-president believes the decision is simply a media strategy on the part of Madrid.

"Real Madrid's reaction with this complaint is a media strategy aiming to get the media talking," he said. "The club are being totally abducted by the figure of Jose Mourinho.

"What worries me about their press release is that it could be construed that Real Madrid as an institution supports the statements made by Mourinho and that would provoke a serious institutional conflict between the two entities."

I-like-flings(m) SG

nowadays hor... speaking the truth also cannot one...

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