Jose Mourinho has produced another defining result for Real Madrid.
The Real Madrid manager celebrated Kylian Mbappe’s late winner at Barcelona on Sunday with his trademark knee slide, maintaining his midas touch against the defending champions.
Mourinho is now just the third Real Madrid manager to record six consecutive El Clasico victories without defeat, 13 years after he last led Los Blancos in this fixture.
With four wins and two draws in his first six matches against Barcelona as Real Madrid’s coach, he joined Miguel Munoz, who oversaw six unbeaten Clasicos from 1962 to 1965, and Vicente del Bosque, who did so from 2001 to 2003.
The result also marked Real Madrid’s second victory in eight games against Barcelona and suggested that Mourinho’s return to the fixture had troubled the reigning champions.
More importantly for Mourinho, Mbappe’s double in Real Madrid’s 2-1 victory ended Barcelona’s nine-game unbeaten domestic run with a crucial Clasico win at the Camp Nou.
A Real Madrid defeat would have allowed Barcelona to establish a commanding nine-point advantage, but the outcome transformed the top of La Liga and brought Mourinho’s side within three points of their rivals.
“In my view, Real Madrid do not play to win at the Camp Nou, Real Madrid play to win La Liga,” Mourinho said.
“We could win with luck, but we won with calmness and with all merit,” he said. “It’s a very strong group. Everyone works very hard. Everyone was ready to win.”
The Portuguese manager, who returned to Real Madrid 13 years after his first stint in charge this summer, has now won six and lost six El Clasicos.
He said: “I’ve learned that I have an extraordinary group, with the quality and mindset to play.
“In midfield, having a mix of talents gives us more than just having two players with similar characteristics. This mix of talents gives us balance when defending and quality when we go on the attack.
“We’ve beaten several teams by four or more goals, but this is Barca, and the players put on a great performance. We need to continue like this and don’t go over the moon after this win.”
Barcelona manager Hansi Flick said he did not want to offer excuses for the defeat but admitted his team lacked fresh legs after a demanding run of fixtures.
“We missed the freshness,” he said. “It’s not easy for our players. We have to recover well, train well and we have to respond from this defeat.
“In big games, small things are important and they decide the games and today, it wasn’t on our side.
“I can see that today we were not fresh and this is what we have to change.”