Addicted to Mourinho

José Mourinho appeared in the preview of the classic with a low profile and left those addicted to drama orphaned of the usual controversy. Let them not worry, the Mou who hooks them with his greatest hits of yesterday, today and always will return when he loses. That is to say, this very Sunday if the forecasts that grant Barça the status of favorite are fulfilled.

The Portuguese executes the role of villain to perfection and there are those who can no longer live without him. Radio programs, TV shows, newspapers, websites and columns are nourished by his outbursts, his reproaches to the referees, his constant reminder of the Negreira case, his press conferences, the finger in the eye, the unanswered whys and his antics. The clickbait hunters rub their hands, the refereeing analysts have more work than ever and we all end up dancing to his tune, forgetting about the ball and waiting for his next occurrence to continue fueling the controversies in an infinite toxic loop.

If you ask him about football he is not interested, he doesn't know, he doesn't answer. It is impossible to get a single headline out of him that has to do with the game, his proposal, what kind of match he expects, his own virtues and flaws or those of the rival, but if Real Madrid loses at the Camp Nou and is already nine points behind in October, surely the complaints and tears will return. That is how relevant this classic is, let us not forget it among so much paraphernalia and fireworks.

Barça can mortally wound a project –a product, as Mourinho said– that has just begun, but is backed without reservation by Florentino Pérez. The president knows he will be the one pointed at if he is left without the Portuguese coach's protection, and that is why he has Real Madrid TV running at full speed, lashing out at referees and spreading conspiracies, while the coach, like a puppet, happily accepts the role of the movie villain.

Flick's team just needs to focus on what it knows: playing football, backed by the best historical start in La Liga with no less than 39 goals scored, and stay as far away from the noise as possible. The defeat in Paris should not have left a mark on their morale, nor doubts in their philosophy; it just remains to perfect it. Let Mourinho and company keep barking, let the addicts get their fix, for the ball, in the end, is what rules.