The cup final. Not many changes made: pinto for valdes, adriano for puyol arbeloa for albiol, ozil for benzema. Pepe still playing further forward.
Mourinho stuck to his guns and came out victorious. Pointed out by Johan Cryuffn in the negative, as being a manager for trophies and not football... I couldn't see any Madristas complaining.
Despite dropping the cup under the bus, there was no feeling that Madrid didn't enjoy every second of their first copa del rey for 18 years.
The momentum was with Madrid, chances were almost equal but Madrid had the edge and when players such as Affelay came on late there was no real feeling that they'd win it for the Catalans.
It says a lot that los blancos fans were applauding intently after the league game which almost terminated their title challenge from the relief of not being beaten by their biggest rivals.
It was a cup game which was intensified by the rivalry of the clubs which was intensified ten fold by the upcoming champions league games. There had to be a winner and I suppose both teams would prefer to lose on penalties. Ronaldo scored the only goal from open play in the two fixtures to secure the win for Real in extra time. Now, the pressure is (wrongly) set upon Mr. Guardiola in the media and the tide is turning in Real's favour.
Mourinho's pragmatic nature seems to be instilled in his squad and, unfortunately, I think they are the favourites for the champions league tie. Mourinho has already beaten Pep's Barca over two legs in last seasons CL when he won it with Inter Milan, can he do it again to his growth club with their rivals? I can't imagine there's anything he would enjoy more.
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