Mourinho’s tactical revolution revives Real Madrid’s title challenge

Real Madrid’s 2-1 victory over Barcelona at Camp Nou was more than a significant three points. It marked the emergence of a new-look side and revealed a tactical shift by manager Jose Mourinho that has prompted analysts to conclude: “Mourinho has finally convinced himself.”

The result, secured on Sunday, reignited the La Liga title race. Barcelona had appeared unstoppable after winning nine matches in a row, but Real Madrid took advantage of the absences of Lamine Yamal and Raphinha to close the gap at the top of the table to three points.

Kylian Mbappe scored both goals for Real Madrid, underlining once again the threat he poses to Barcelona’s defence. Despite the victory, Real remain third, behind Barcelona and Atletico Madrid.

The transformation was discussed on the programme Carousel Deportivo, where analysts argued that the result was not simply down to Mbappe’s individual brilliance. They said Mourinho had comprehensively outmanoeuvred Hansi Flick, who appeared unable to find an alternative plan.

Analyst Julio Pulido described the victory as a major personal success for Mourinho because of the manager’s willingness to alter his original approach.

“I think it is a huge success for Mourinho because he managed to change his initial plan to fit the team’s actual needs,” Pulido said.

He explained how different the Portuguese manager’s thinking had become compared with the previous week.

“If we look at Mourinho’s plan until last week, Tchouameni and Valverde were trapped in midfield, Bernardo Silva was on the bench after disappearing completely, and Diomande was also left out because Mourinho insisted on playing Vinicius,” Pulido said.

“He had never considered using Valverde on the right wing. That was the major change.”

Sevilla win provided the turning point

Pulido said the decisive moment had come not in the Clasico but a week earlier, when Real Madrid beat Sevilla 4-1.

“That match against Sevilla was the turning point,” he said. “Things changed from that game. Mourinho boldly selected Valverde and left Vinicius on the bench, while he moved Arda Guler closer to the centre of the pitch, which improved his performance enormously.

“That is Mourinho’s real achievement.”

Analyst Miguel Martin Talavera also said the current Real Madrid side was markedly different from the team that began the season. Although the club remain third, he argued that the improvement had been expected.

However, Talavera believed the most important development concerned Barcelona’s sudden loss of momentum.

“Regardless of Mourinho’s success and Real Madrid’s outstanding performance, I think the biggest news is that Barcelona, who were unbeatable, impressive and breaking records, lost two matches in three days and returned to reality,” he said.

“They have shown that success requires hard work. No-one has ever won anything in October, and I now see Barcelona surrounded by doubts, especially after their defeat by Paris Saint-Germain.”