Since his return to Chelsea this summer, José Mourinho has by and large cut a rather more relaxed and sanguine figure – a far cry, perhaps, from the scowling, smouldering manager we’d all grown to recognise and respect, if not quite love.
But that all changed the other evening during the Super Cup clash against Bayern Munich when the man in the opposition dugout just happened to be someone called Pep Guardiola. In the blink of an eye, the Special One of old was back with a vengeance, protesting over refereeing decisions, and insisting – despite compelling statistical evidence to the contrary – that the better team (his, of course) lost.
There’s obviously something about Guardiola that get José all hot under the collar, something that irritates him to the point that irrationality beyond any measure of justification invades his soul and, try as he might, he can’t shake himself from it.
Of course, the toxic relationship between Barcelona and Real Madrid is such that, during their time at the helm of these great clubs, José and his nemesis were never likely to be easy bedfellows, and the legacy of that is bound to be a lasting one.
He had barely warmed the manager’s chair at Madrid before the Portuguese was goading his opposite number, often in connection with the supposed favouritism shown to Barcelona by match officials, UEFA and the media. To many of us, it appeared that Mourinho was up to his old tricks again, adopting mind games to undermine his opponents, although he had limited success on that score.
A solitary La Liga title in his time in Spain does little to suggest he consistently trumped Guardiola, although to be fair he can be credited with deploying the tactics which, more than any other side appeared capable of doing, stifled the Catalans’ fabled slick passing game. (It was simple but highly effective – press Barca deep in their own half, rather than pack the defence in a bid to thwart the relentless attacks).
Neither manager plies his trade in Spain now, but evidenced by Friday evening’s clash in Prague, the competitive spirit and frostiness between the two men lingers on.
It must be said, however, that the hostility largely emanates from the Chelsea manager. In the build-up to the match, Mourinho was less than cordial whenever the subject of Guardiola was mentioned (which, funnily enough, was often) and his mood hardly dissipated when his team lost out on penalties following a pulsating 120 minutes of football.
Ramirez’s red card was dismissed with a shrug, and insistence that the decision had spoiled the game as a spectacle. That much was true to a point, although the assertion implies that the referee should somehow have shirked his responsibilities (the tackle merited a clear second yellow card at least) in a bid to maintain parity of numbers- which is frankly absurd.
Not that José was content with that observation. Clearly irked by the manner of the defeat, his claim that Chelsea were the better team was difficult to fathom. That his side performed well, and came within a whisker of winning the cup could not be denied, but the better side overall? Well, no.
Whatever the rights and wrongs of Mourinho’s views, one thing is for certain – his antagonism towards Guardiola remains feverish to the extent that it could almost be described as paranoia! Perhaps this is simply a genuine rivalry borne from several seasons filled pitting his wits against Catalan supremacy.
Perhaps Mourinho is unable (or, more likely, unwilling) to get over the fact that Roman Abramhovic had coveted Pep for the hot seat at Stamford Bridge not so long ago.
One way or another, one suspects the Pep and José story has almost certainly a few chapters to run yet.