When Real Madrid called for Jose Mourinho in 2010, it came as an act of desperation. Pep Guardiola had propelled Barcelona to domination in Spain while Real was without a trophy in two seasons. Success had tilted significantly in favor of the Catalans.
Who better to stop the power of Pep than the man who had knocked Barcelona out of the Champions League that year? Mourinho’s Inter had absorbed Barca’s high possession and used it against them. That was something Real required.
Mourinho’s arrival in La Liga did, ultimately, upset the balance. He delivered the Copa del Rey in his first season and the championship title the following year, coinciding with the departure of Guardiola to take a sabbatical.
“When Mourinho came here, Barcelona was at its peak,” Ramon Calderon, the former Real Madrid president tells Newsweek . “It was a problem for Mourinho. Although everyone expected him to win a title, he was in some ways unlucky because he went to semi-finals but didn’t go through. He couldn’t do what he did at other teams in Europe.”
But Mourinho had halted Barcelona’s power. Now he finds himself parachuted into Old Trafford in similar circumstances. United, a once-dominant power in the Premier League, has begun drifting in the post-Sir Alex Ferguson era. David Moyes wasn’t the right successor; Louis van Gaal wasn’t the right solution.
“Manchester United have had problems over the past few years,” Calderon says. “After Ferguson, they weren’t in the level they used to be, without trophies and Champions League [qualification]. They are looking for someone to get them back to the top of competitions.
“In some ways, after my presidency [2006-09] when we won two Ligas in a row, we didn’t win anything and [Manuel] Pellegrini came [in as manager]. It wasn’t the right result because we signed at the same time Kaka, [Cristiano] Ronaldo, [Karim] Benzema, and Xavi Alonso. Five or six top players and we didn’t get any titles.
“There was a bit of desperation in getting a manager that could change that fate, and the result was not a good one.”
But for a Super Cup tie between Mourinho’s Chelsea and Guardiola’s Bayern Munich in 2013, the two managers will stand side-by-side at a touchline on Saturday for the first time since those La Liga days. Mourinho in the red of United; Guardiola in the sky blue of City.
Despite the build-up and fueling of the narrative, which describes a bitter rivalry between the Portuguese and the Spaniard, in the lead up to the Manchester derby, Calderon doesn’t believe their relationship is quite as sour as it’s made out.
“They have a normal relationship between coaches like them,” he says. “I don’t think it is different to others. I don’t think it is worse than any others.
“They have different styles. Both have been successful before, but Mourinho is more defensive, waiting for the ball and counter-attacking. Instead, Guardiola is always sending the forward to pressure the defenders, and keeping the ball as long as possible.
“Guardiola is more calm; Mourinho is more impulsive, in some ways. He showed that with Chelsea, he showed that with Real Madrid when he poked the finger in the eye of Guardiola’s assistant [Tito Vilanova]. He’s more passionate.”
Both United and City have had a fast start to the Premier League season, with each team still enjoying a 100 percent record after three games. Only Antonio Conte’s Chelsea join them on nine points.
“It’s a bit early,” Calderon says, “but from the start they are proving to be successful. The teams have signed so many big stars there is no doubt they’re going to be candidates for the Premier League title.” Let battle commence.
