Barcelona 5-0 Real Madrid: The Clasico that left Mourinho facing his toughest night

Jose Mourinho returns to Camp Nou with Real Madrid for tomorrow’s Clasico hoping to avoid another humiliating evening against Barcelona, having described his first meeting with the Catalan club as the “worst” of his managerial career at the time.

Mourinho’s opening Clasico as Real Madrid manager ended in a 5-0 defeat on 29 November 2010, during the 13th round of the Spanish league. The result exposed the scale of the challenge facing him as he attempted to compete with Barcelona under Pep Guardiola.

Real Madrid had arrived in Barcelona unbeaten after the opening 12 league matches. Mourinho had also not lost a competitive match since taking charge of the club in the summer of 2010.

Those records counted for little once the match began. Barcelona established control early and took the lead after 10 minutes when Xavi Hernandez found the net. Pedro Rodriguez doubled the advantage in the 18th minute, leaving the hosts 2-0 ahead at half-time.

Mourinho responded at the start of the second half by making his first substitution, bringing on Lassana Diarra for Mesut Ozil. The change failed to alter the pattern of the match, however, as Barcelona continued to dominate.

David Villa then scored twice in quick succession, striking in the 55th and 58th minutes. Both goals were created by Lionel Messi, who supplied the decisive passes as Barcelona moved further out of reach.

Jeffren Suarez completed the rout in the first minute of added time, giving Barcelona a five-goal victory and leaving Real Madrid without a response.

The statistics reflected the gap between the two sides. Barcelona enjoyed 66% possession compared with Real Madrid’s 34%, while the hosts recorded 15 shots to Real Madrid’s five. Barcelona also managed six attempts on target, three times as many as their opponents.

Real Madrid’s night deteriorated further in the closing stages when Sergio Ramos was sent off for an incident involving Carles Puyol.

After the final whistle, Mourinho acknowledged Barcelona’s superiority and labelled the defeat the worst of his coaching career at that point. He said Real Madrid had played extremely poorly, while their opponents had produced an exceptional performance.