Mourinho’s ‘victim’ strategy fuels Real Madrid’s El Clasico triumph

Real Madrid supporters woke up in Madrid celebrating their side’s 2-1 victory over Barcelona at Camp Nou, with some even receiving congratulations from Atletico de Madrid fans. The result has raised hopes that Atletico can challenge Barcelona for top spot in La Liga, with only two points separating them.

According to Catalan newspaper Sport, Jose Mourinho’s side defeated Hansi Flick’s team in a fiercely contested title race, removing the “victim” narrative Real Madrid and president Florentino Perez had adopted before the match.

Mourinho has frequently used that role to sharpen his teams’ competitive spirit. He followed the same approach during his first spell at Real Madrid and revived it in the build-up to his first El Clasico since returning.

The defeat was Barcelona’s second in succession and has increased uncertainty around Flick’s team, while Real Madrid have entered the final stage of the year believing they have rediscovered their direction.

Barcelona face Deportivo Alaves in La Liga on 31 October 2026, while Racing Santander play Real Madrid in the same competition on 1 November 2026.

Mourinho’s method has echoes of his past. Frank Lampard explained the approach while discussing Chelsea under the Portuguese manager in comments reported by the Irish Independent in 2019.

“He made us believe that everyone wanted us to fail,” Lampard said.

That belief helped unite Chelsea behind Mourinho and contributed to the creation of one of the most competitive teams in Premier League history.

A similar mood developed at Real Madrid before the trip to Camp Nou. On 12 October, Thomas Roncero told Cadena SER: “Any referee knows that if he favours Real Madrid, he will have a problem.”

Mourinho maintained the grievance-based narrative after the victory, claiming VAR had been absent during the incident involving Joao Cancelo and Diomande. He called for a player to be sent off, but the Video Assistant Referee Archive platform and former referee Iturralde Gonzalez rejected that interpretation, saying the challenge merited a yellow card.

Confidence transformed inside Real Madrid

Concerns about defeat had also surfaced around Valdebebas before the match, with some figures close to Real Madrid preparing for a loss despite more confident messages coming from the dressing room.

Mourinho built a sense of trust within the squad, and that solidarity proved decisive. Whenever one player made a mistake, a team-mate was ready to cover him.

Roncero admitted he had argued with several supporters before the game because they expected Barcelona to win comfortably. Those fears were partly linked to the absence of goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois, although Real Madrid had won three of the four previous Clasicos in which Andriy Lunin played.

The expectation of a heavy Barcelona victory gave Real Madrid extra motivation. Mourinho also handled leaks suggesting Eduardo Camavinga would start, turning the Frenchman into an influential substitute whose involvement led to the second goal, scored by Kylian Mbappe.

The players’ collective celebration of Mbappe’s goal underlined the psychological impact of that preparation.

Despite Real Madrid’s greater spending in recent transfer windows and significantly higher salary limit than Barcelona’s, Mourinho presented Barcelona’s perceived superiority over the past two years as a source of motivation.

It was a tactic he had used before. With Inter Milan in 2010, even after a 3-1 win over Barcelona in the first leg of their Champions League semi-final, Mourinho warned that his side could lose the return at Camp Nou by a wide margin.

After this season’s first El Clasico, Real Madrid supporters moved from deep pessimism to euphoria. The reaction recalled last season’s win over Barcelona at Santiago Bernabeu, when Vinicius Junior was unhappy after being substituted.

On El Chiringuito, Edu Aguirre said: “It was a match that could have ended 4-1 or 5-1. We have a better manager, and everything is in place to win the league.”

Roncero added: “It was a match in which we could have scored four or five goals against Barcelona.”

Real Madrid’s official television channel celebrated the performance while continuing to complain about refereeing, describing it as: “A display from Real Madrid, but VAR on demand.”

The win has changed the club’s priorities and allowed Mourinho’s team to enjoy a positive atmosphere, at least until their next setback. Mourinho, however, stressed that the victory would only matter if Real Madrid continued collecting positive results and built on the El Clasico performance.