Mourinho: Real Madrid will not change plan to stop Lamine Yamal

Real Madrid manager Jose Mourinho says his side will not alter their approach specifically to contain Barcelona forward Lamine Yamal in Sunday’s El Clasico at Camp Nou.

Real Madrid travel to face Barcelona in the 10th round of La Liga, with Mourinho insisting the contest cannot be judged by either team’s recent form.

“We are going through a good period, playing well and scoring goals,” Mourinho said at his pre-match news conference. “But in El Clasico, what you have done before does not matter and does not influence it. El Clasico is completely different.”

Mourinho will return to Camp Nou for one of the biggest fixtures in the football calendar.

“There are at least two matches every season,” he said. “It does not matter who the manager is; what matters is the enormous significance of El Clasico. There are other matches around the world, but this is the only El Clasico, and the whole world stops for it.”

Barcelona go into the game after losing to Paris Saint-Germain, but Mourinho does not believe that result will affect their confidence.

“I do not think defeats change their confidence or mentality,” he said. “It would not have changed me either if I had lost 4-1 to Leipzig.”

Mourinho added that he was not influenced by outside assessments of either side.

“If people believed a week ago that we would suffer a heavy defeat, they will continue to believe that,” he said. “I am not affected when people speak well about Barcelona. It has nothing to do with me. To be honest, there are times when they deserve praise because they are doing good things.

“As for us, people look at us as though we are a complete team. That is extremely difficult in football, but we have not reached an advanced stage of that process.”

The Real Madrid manager said his team remained at an early point in its development after only three months working together.

“We have worked together for three months and had a pre-season in which one or two players joined every week, followed by the international break,” he said. “We are far from being a complete team. We are still in the early stages, with the manager getting to know the squad, analysing things and deciding the paths we will follow.

“That is why I do not think it is fair to compare a team going through this stage with one that has been playing together for years.”

Mourinho acknowledged Yamal’s quality but rejected the idea of changing the team’s fundamentals to deal with him.

“All of Barcelona’s players are good, and the same applies to Real Madrid,” he said. “Lamine is a wonderful player and players like that must be respected. But respect is one thing, while changing the plan and the basis of the team is another. We will not do that for Lamine or any other player with his exceptional quality.”

Asked about the atmosphere at Camp Nou, Mourinho said it would not change his approach. “It is the same as at any other stadium. We are talking about a team with enormous quality, but there is nothing different.”

He also dismissed suggestions that his beard was linked to optimism, saying: “Do I look bad with this beard? Should I change it? I am one of the few people in football who does not believe in superstition.”

On Fermin Lopez’s view that discussion of referees had become exhausting, Mourinho replied: “I cannot say anything. There are other things that exhaust us, yet they continue to happen.”

Barcelona lead La Liga with nine wins from nine and are six points clear of Real Madrid.