Real Madrid Boss Jose Mourinho Explains Tactical Tweak in El Clasico

On Sunday evening, Real Madrid ended Barcelona's perfect domestic start to the season with an incredibly 2-1 victory in El Clasico at the Camp Nou. 

There were a lot of question marks about the reappointment of Jose Mourinho before he took the job, and there have been questions asked since he took the job - with defeats to Real Betis and Atletico Madrid in the derby. 

But even his biggest hater would find it hard to disagree that this game was a peak Mourinho masterclass. It is pretty widely agreed that Barcelona are the best offensive team in the world. Before this game, they had scored 39 goals in nine La Liga games. They had also registered 59 big chances in those nine games. 

Yet, this time, they were limited to one goal and just two big chances. Those big chances came firstly from a huge ricochet into the path of Lamine Yamal, and secondly from set piece. So, in open play, no Barcelona player created a big chance for a team mate. Very good defensive performance. 

So, Mourinho was able to coach a fantastic defensive display, with all of the defenders, especially Ibrahima Konate and Dean Huijsen, carrying this out very well. Then, you have the offensive display. 

Although the first goal was fortunate with how it ricocheted off of Kylian Mbappe and into the goal, the team were still able to register four big chances. Yan Diomande could and should have made it 2-0 just before half time, whilst Mbappe had a big chance of his own not too long before opening the scoring.

The final big chance was the Frenchman's second goal of the game, and this is where Mourinho's plan came to fruition. After sublime skill from Jude Bellingham, Eduardo Camavinga made a run in behind, all the way into the box before cutting the ball back for Mbappe to score an open goal. 

After the game, Mourinho said (via theMadridZone) that this was something pre-planned: "I told Camavinga that Tchouaméni will stay low and protect the defence, and you will attack space. 

It's difficult for any attackers to attack space against Barcelona, the only solution is to do it with your midfielders. When your attackers do it, Barca's defence is prepared and coached for that, and your attackers end up being offside, or the pass ends up being cut by Joan Garcia.

The solution is to use midfielders like Camavinga and Bellingham to break that line, and it worked."

Very interesting observation from Mourinho, and you see exactly what he means, both in theory and in practise last night. They were very good at playing Mbappe offside, but third man runs from the midfield were too much for them to deal with. Perfect plan. 

It felt like he had waited slightly too long to take Bernardo Silva off, considering he was flagging, but he waited for the perfect moment to bring Camavinga on with his fresh legs, and he made all the difference. 

There is still plenty of work to be done in La Liga. The team are still three points off Barcelona despite this result, and are still a point behind rivals Atletico too. But, this is a very important win.