Source: ESPNsoccernet staff
April 27, 2011
Real Madrid manager Jose Mourinho
has conceded that his side have no
chance of reaching the Champions
League final after a 2-0 first-leg defeat
to rivals Barcelona at the Bernabeu. - Champions League Gallery - Pep Guardiola avoids war of words Mourinho was sent to the stands in a
tempestous game that saw Barcelona
substitute goalkeeper Pinto sent off at
half-time, before Madrid midfielder Pepe
was dismissed for a tackle on Javier
Mascherano. Lionel Messi exploited the space to claim a late brace and now
Mourinho feels his side are out of the
tie. "The return game is mission
impossible,'' he told the press after the
game. ''Barcelona has qualified for the
final. Sometimes I feel disgusted about
this football world of ours. Yes, we have
already been knocked out. ''We had the intention to keep the game
at 0-0, then bring on a striker, then a
third phase with a No. 10 behind three
forwards. But the ref didn't allow it.'' Mourinho continued his post-match
rant by targeting Barcelona's record of
playing against ten-men in the
competition, most notably their win
over Chelsea in the semi-final in 2009. "I just have one question: Why?,'' he
added. ''Why Ovrebo [Chelsea vs.
Barcelona referee in 2007 semi-final],
Busacca [Barcelona vs. Arsenal in this
year's Champions League], Stark? In
each semi-final it is the same. We are talking about an absolutely fantastic
team. Why didn't Chelsea make the
final? Why did Inter have to be saved by
a miracle? ''Congratulations to Barcelona. But I just
do not understand why Barcelona
always receive the help of the referee.
All my life I will be asking myself this
question, and one day I hope to receive
an answer. ''I am not too sad, I have a great family.
But I don't understand why Barcelona
have this power. It happened two years
ago to Chelsea (in the 2009 semi-finals)
, almost to my Inter last year, and also
to Arsenal this year. ''Why do the opponents of Barcelona
always have a man sent off? Where
does this power come from? Maybe it is
to give more publicity to UNICEF, maybe
because of the power of (Spanish
federation president Jose Angel) Villar in UEFA.'' Turning his attention to Pep Guardiola,
Mourinho said: ''Barcelona are a great
team on and off the pitch, but winning
like that doesn't leave the same taste. ''I have already won two Champions
Leagues, and I won them on the pitch,
with two teams that weren't Barcelona.
I won one with Porto, a small team from
a weaker league. And I won another
with Inter, sweating and fighting hard. ''Josep Guardiola is a fantastic football
coach, but the Champions League he
won was an embarrassment because of
what happened at Stamford Bridge - it
was a scandal. And if he wins it this
year, he will win after the scandal at the Bernabeu. Let's hope he gets the
chance to win a clean Champions
League (in future), without scandals. ''Guardiola deserves to win a
Champions League normally. That's
what I wish because he is a very good
coach who I respect as a person for his
fantastic treatment in four years with
him. ''I respect him a lot as a coach and as a
person, I hope that one day he will win
a clean Champions League, with no
incidents behind it.'' Cristiano Ronaldo, who was largely
anonymous as an attacking presence
during the game and showed visible
frustration with the way Madrid were
playing said: "Do I like to play in a
defensive team like Madrid? No, but I have to adapt to what the coach wants. "Playing against 10 men isn't easy. 0-0
would have been a good result. 2-0 is
very difficult. Messi played very well, but
it's easier against ten." However, Ronaldo also agreed with his
coach's assessment of how Barcelona
extend their influence over the game. "It's always the same with them
[Barcelona]. This is the fourth
consecutive season that something like
this has happened. [Jose] Mourinho is
right, just look at what happened with
Arsenal, Chelsea and Inter," he added. "They [Barcelona] are a fantastic team,
but they also have a lot of influence,
both on and off the pitch."