Barcelona at risk from Jose Mourinho and Inter Milan

Matt Hughes, Deputy Football Correspondent, Barcelona

The last thing Barcelona need is the return of the bogeyman.

On his previous trips back to the club where he learnt his trade, José Mourinho has been reviled as the devil and mocked as a mere translator. But such is the introspection gripping the Nou Camp that the Inter Milan coach slipped into the stadium almost unnoticed last night.

The European champions have more pressing problems of their own.

Mourinho’s flowing silver hair lends his face a softer complexion than the soldier of fortune permanently ready for war at Chelsea, but his mischievous nature has not changed, with the locals’ decision almost to ignore him reflecting their innermost fears.

Beyond the outbreak of swine flu that has accounted for Yaya Touré and Éric Abidal, the thigh and hamstring problems that, respectively, could rule out Lionel Messi and Zlatan Ibrahimovic and the fragile mental state of Thierry Henry lies the more worry that defeat this evening could result in the holders being eliminated from the Champions League at the first opportunity.

Even the notoriously partisan Catalan press, who in previous years have jeered and whistled his every move, could not bring themselves to goad Mourinho, who took the unusual step of showering his hosts with praise.

This is the kind of match that Uefa dreads and thought it had consigned to history when it moved to the lucrative group format. But the stirring exploits of Rubin Kazan and the stoicism of Dynamo Kiev have left group F wide open.

Inter lead by one point, but they will also be vulnerable if they lose and the Russian champions win in the early kick-off against Dynamo. Wins for Rubin and Inter would result in Barcelona being knocked out and leave them facing el gran clásico, at home to Real Madrid on Sunday, with considerable trepidation.

With his best poker face, Mourinho claimed to be excited by the challenge of such a high-stakes card game, even if, unlike Pep Guardiola, his opposite number, elimination could effectively cost him his job.

“I prefer to play in a game like this,” Mourinho said. “I prefer to play Barça v Inter to a lesser game, just as I prefer Chelsea v Liverpool to Chelsea v Birmingham. Those are the games that worry me, when it’s difficult to get the players motivated. The beautiful thing in football is to play against the best.

“We know that if Rubin win and we win, Barça will go out, but that can also happen to us. It could be that Rubin and Dynamo go through and Inter and Barcelona are left to fight it out for a Uefa Cup place.”




Mourinho attempted to increase the pressure on Barcelona by describing them as the best team in the world. The praise from Samuel Eto’o, on his first visit back to his former club, appeared more genuine. The Cameroon striker vowed not to celebrate if he scored against the club with whom he twice lifted the European Cup.

“I like playing in Barcelona,” Mourinho said. “When I land at the airport I always smile. I know they whistle at me, but I like this city, I like this stadium.

“Barcelona’s odds have not changed. They’re not top of their group any more, but they’re still favourites to win the Champions League. They’re the best team in the world, but we’re not afraid of them.”

Guardiola’s feat of winning three trophies in his first campaign as a coach last season means that he is entitled to remain laid-back, but, given the doubts over Messi and Ibrahimovic, he has more to worry about, despite his claims to the contrary.

“We can win the game regardless of whether Messi or Ibrahimovic play,” he said. “We cannot go into the game thinking that without these two players we’ll lose.” Fear of failure is more debilitating than any mythical monster, even Mourinho.




The best of enemies

José Mourinho has a history of trouble with Barcelona in the Champions League:

Feb-March 2005 Barcelona’s 2-1 first-leg win over Chelsea in the round of 16 was overshadowed by Mourinho’s claims that Frank Rijkaard, then the Barcelona coach, had approached Anders Frisk at half-time, influencing the referee’s decision to dismiss Didier Drogba in the second half. Chelsea went through after a stirring 4-2 win in the second leg, but Mourinho was found guilty of misconduct by Uefa and given a touchline ban.

Feb-March 2006 Mourinho accused Lionel Messi of diving to get Asier Del Horno sent off after a first-leg defeat in the round of 16 at Stamford Bridge, with Barcelona going through 3-2 on aggregate.

Oct 2006 Mourinho celebrated Didier Drogba’s stoppage-time equaliser in a group game against Barcelona by sliding to his knees on the Nou Camp touchline at the end of an acrimonious match in which ten players were booked. Both clubs progressed to the knockout stages.