Addicted to Mourinho

José Mourinho appeared in the preview of the Clásico with a low profile and left drama addicts 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 the villain to perfection and there are those who can no longer live without him. Radio shows, TV programs, newspapers, websites, and columns are nourished by his outbursts, his reproaches to referees, his constant reminder of the Negreira case, the finger in the eye, the unanswered whys, and the cat and mouse games. Clickbait hunters rub their hands together, referee analysts have more work than ever, and we all end up dancing to the tune he wants, forgetting about the ball and waiting for his next occurrence to continue fueling the controversies in an infinite toxic loop.

If they 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 or the rival's virtues and flaws, 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 amidst so much paraphernalia and fireworks.

Barça can mortally wound a project –a product, 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 going full throttle against the referees and spreading conspiracies, while the coach, like a puppet, happily accepts the assignment of being the villain of the movie.

Flick's team only has to dedicate itself to what it knows, playing football, backed by the best historic 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 idea; all that remains is to perfect it. Let Mourinho and company continue barking, let the addicts get their fix, for the ball, in the end, is what rules.