El Clásico: Mourinho backs himself and rules out a special plan for Lamine Yamal

On the eve of Sunday’s Clásico at the Camp Nou (9pm kick-off), José Mourinho showed plenty of confidence at his press conference: “Madrid with Mourinho wins trophies,” he said to the press. Real sit third in La Liga on 21 points, six behind a Barcelona side with nine wins from nine league games; Atlético are wedged between the two on 22. Madrid travel with four straight wins in all competitions: Villarreal (1-0), Roma (4-3), Sevilla (4-1) and RB Leipzig (4-1).

No individual trap for Lamine Yamal

Asked about Lamine Yamal, Mourinho dismissed the idea of an individual trap: “He is a great player, and great players are respected. But respect is one thing, and changing our strategy, our structure and forgetting the essence of the team is another. We will not do it, not against him or any player of his level.” Yamal had already answered, in The Guardian: “I love the provocation. The Mourinho-Guardiola era, I loved all that. It is football.”

The Portuguese also ruled out any lasting damage from Barcelona’s 4-2 defeat at the Parc des Princes in the Champions League: “I don’t think one defeat changes their mindset or their confidence.” The war of words had its Fermín López episode: the Barça midfielder found Real Madrid’s talk about referees “a bit tiring”, and Mourinho hit back: “Other things tire us out, and they keep happening.”

A 105-day project against a settled machine

Mourinho leaned on the calendar: “I had to get to know them. I have only been here 105 days.” Comparing his team with one “that has been playing together for two or three years” struck him as unfair. In the detail, AS, relayed by Foot Mercato, has him preparing three variants of a 4-2-3-1 around Valverde, without Camavinga. Real will be without Vinícius Júnior, starting a four-match ban for his red card against Villarreal. Thibaut Courtois set the target: “We have to close the gap, and we can only do that by winning. We go there with confidence.” On the other side, Hansi Flick is managing injuries at the back and rested Rodri, Pedri and Raphinha against PSG with Sunday in mind.

Under pressure, not in danger

Mourinho has already run through the full Madrid repertoire without taking charge of a single Clásico of this second spell: the “por qué?” after Betis, the printout waved after the Atlético game, the skipped press conference after Villarreal. According to Foot Mercato, his job is “not really in danger” even if Real lose at the Camp Nou. That leaves the beard, growing along with the wins, a lucky charm half-admitted as such. On Sunday at 9pm, it faces its first big test.