Flick and Mourinho offer contrasting views of each other ahead of El Clasico

Hans Flick and Jose Mourinho gave notably different responses when asked about one another before Sunday’s El Clasico between Barcelona and Real Madrid in the 10th round of La Liga.

Mourinho, the Real Madrid manager, was asked during his news conference to assess Flick, who leads Barcelona. He replied: “I do not understand why you ask me about rivals. What do you want me to say about Flick? He is a great manager and is doing a great job. That is all. What do you want me to say? I cannot say anything else.”

Flick held his news conference after Mourinho and was asked the same subject. His answer was considerably more expansive as he expressed his respect for his fellow manager.

“I have the utmost respect for him,” said Flick. “When you coach teams at this level for many years and achieve success consistently, that is evidence of quality. He has proved that at every club he has worked with.”

Flick also recalled meeting Mourinho during his time as an assistant to Germany manager Joachim Low.

“At international level, when I was Joachim Low’s assistant, I met him once in Madrid because we went to visit him,” Flick said. “I can say that every player in the national team who worked with him spoke about him with great respect. We had some players there.”

Flick concluded: “I think that is how it is. He is a colleague in the profession. He is a very successful colleague and a great colleague.”