Spain reacted with outrage on Thursday after Barcelona’s 3-2 Super Cup win over Real Madrid descended into violent scenes with defeated coach Jose Mourinho jabbing a rival in the eye.
Television images and photos on the front pages Thursday showed Mourinho poking his finger into the eye of Barcelona’s coach Pep Guardiola’s assistant Tito Vilanova as players brawled on the field.
Pito who?
“Pito Vilanova? I don’t know who this Pito is,” Mourinho said after the match.Television pictures showed the Portuguese coach walking over to Vilanova at the side of the pitch and poking him in the left eye.
Barcelona’s Vilanova could then be seen giving a smiling Mourinho a hard slap in the back as he walked away.
A Lionel Messi double took the European and Spanish champions Barcelona to a 5-4 aggregate win over bitter rivals Real Madrid in their Super Cup second leg clash in the Camp Nou. But the bad feeling between the two sides boiled over at the end of the match, which ran past midnight and into the early hours of Thursday.
{{/usCountry}}A Lionel Messi double took the European and Spanish champions Barcelona to a 5-4 aggregate win over bitter rivals Real Madrid in their Super Cup second leg clash in the Camp Nou. But the bad feeling between the two sides boiled over at the end of the match, which ran past midnight and into the early hours of Thursday.
{{/usCountry}}Brazilian Marcelo set off the sparks when he was dismissed for a late challenge on former Arsenal captain Cesc Fabregas, who made his debut towards the end of the game.
In an ensuing brawl on the pitch, Mesut Ozil of Real Madrid and Barcelona’s David Villa were also sent off, bringing the red-card total to three.
Fabregas tried to play down the scrap, saying after the match: “It is very competitive football, they are the two greatest clubs in the world, it is a very strong rivalry.”
But the press lashed out.
Messi magic
A Messi double inspired Barcelona to a 3-2 victory. Andres Iniesta put Barca ahead with a deft finish before Cristiano Ronaldo scored his 100th goal in a Real Madrid shirt to equalise.
Messi, though, was the key player as he scored at the end of the first half and again three minutes from the end with French striker Karim Benzema finding the back of the net in between. Pep Guardiola only gave the new £29m signing Cesc Fabregas a few minutes of playing time towards the end.