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“El Classico ruined by Madrid approach”

28 Apr 2011

With the perhaps the biggest game of the season on the horizon and two football betting favourites for the Champions league about to go head to head, it would have been slightly unnerving for referee Wolfgang Stark to see most of the focus before the game on Jose Mourinho and Pep Guardiola, the respective managers of Real Madrid and Barcelona.

That trend continued on the pitch as little attempt (by Madrid at least) was made to change that and make what was anticipated as a clash of two of the best teams in the world into a spectacle.

The Champions League semi-final between the two Spanish giants bordered on farce at times as players threw themselves to the ground, clutching faces at phantom elbows and perfecting the art of the triple roll on the Bernabeu turf.

Of course the focal point was to come as Madrid’s midfielder Pepe clumsily tackled Dani Alves, a decision which drew from Mourinho, whose mood visibly darkened as he was sent to the stands for sarcastically praising the decision, as childish a response as there has ever been in the game.

The Portuguese coach, a man known as much for his mind-games as he is for his uncanny ability to win trophies, took what seems to be a default position in modern football and took issue with the decision, rather than look closer to home, and what followed was some of the most vicious claims ever aimed at a referee and an opponent.

“It disgusts me to live in this world. It's clear that against Barcelona you have no chance.” He said in his post-match press conference. "I don't know if it's the publicity of Unicef (the club's shirt sponsor), I don't know if it's because they are very nice, but they've got this power."

"I don't know if it's the friendship of [Spanish football federation president Angel Maria] Villar at [European football's governing body] Uefa, where he is vice-president."

"(Barcelona's Pep) Guardiola is a fantastic coach, but he's 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." he added.

At the very heart of the matter however is the fact that Stark got the decision correct. While the ball bounced off the ground and the contact was nowhere near as pronounced as Alves made believe, Pepe’s studs were raised with his toes pointed skywards as his boot impacted on the Brazilian’s shin. A straight red was the only option for Stark.

Not that the Madrid players did anything else but tow the party line. “the referee's decisions took the game beyond our control” crowed Xabi Alonso. The red card was a “crazy” decision, according to Raul Albiol.

But perhaps it would be wiser for the La Liga side to focus their energy on looking for the real reason the game went away from them. They were beaten 2-0 at home, in a stadium which had previously looked a fortress. They created few clear cut chances and looked to set on bullying Barcelona out of the game rather than beat them fairly. Barca were far from the innocent victims. Their play acting was just as bad as their opponents, but it the end their football did the talking with two wonderful Messi goals, whereas Madrid could only talk, and ignored the football.

The most serious allegation is of course that Barca were in some way able to influence Stark. That Madrid have had a player sent off in the last four meetings between the sides is seen as an agenda, and not proof of their aggressive tactics.

You can easily win football bets by backing Barca to progress to the final after Mourinho declared it “impossible” to overturn the 2 goal deficit, something which in truth also smacked of further mind games.

Barca have lodged a complaint and rightly so against Madrid, and Mourinho can expect the same treatment that Sir Alex Ferguson got when he questioned Martin Atkinson – a 5 game touchline ban. But Madrid must address a deeper cultural issue, something a five game ban won’t do.

They need to realise the world, and the referee are not against them, and most importantly they must admit that they are simply nowhere near as good as Barcelona. And any amount of comments in the press about Stark or any other referee will not change that.