La Liga and the Champions League are still to be decided but already pundits and the general public are talking about what will happen when the season comes to an end after the recent series of Barcelona and Real Madrid matches. At the start of April, there was speculation that if things went badly wrong for Real coach José Mourinho, he might leave at the end of the season. Well, apart from lifting the Copa del Rey on April 20, things could hardly have gone worse. The 1-1 draw at the Santiago Bernabéu on April 16 effectively handed the league title to Barcelona and the Catalans could close the issue with a draw in this week's game against Levante or if Real drop points against … [Read more...] about Where do Mourinho and Guardiola go from here?
Mourinho and Guardiola
It’s Real Mourinho vs. Spain FC as La Liga begins
Nobody can accuse Spain’s top teams of lacking stars. Real Madrid has Cristiano Ronaldo, Kaka, Iker Casillas and now Mesut Özil and Sami Khedira. Barcelona, meanwhile, has eight players from Spain’s World Cup-winning squad, including Xavi Hernández, David Villa and Pedro Rodríguez. And yet, as the Spanish league season gets underway, the eye is drawn not to midfielder Andrés Iniesta, a football genius in an accountant’s body, or the stepovers and hair gel of Ronaldo, but rather the two sharply dressed men overseeing these players at the side of the pitch. This season, perhaps more than any other, is a battle between two managerial auteurs: Barcelona’s Pep Guardiola and Madrid’s José … [Read more...] about It’s Real Mourinho vs. Spain FC as La Liga begins