The blame game

Jose Mourinho has never knowingly taken responsibility for any misfortune that befalls his teams, so no surprise to hear him blaming Real Madrid’s shock 1-0 defeat to Levante on the stupidity of one of his own players and the poor sportsmanship of the opposing players.
As half-time approached Madrid were drawing 0-0 when Sami Khedira, already on a yellow card, pushed the Levante captain Sergio Ballesteros and was ordered off. That moment, argues Mourinho, was pivotal.
“The blame in my opinion lies with one of my players who was lured into a trap,” Mourinho said after the game.
“They have to have enough intelligence to avoid situations like that and have a sense of whether the referee will allow it or not.
“That’s why I have to congratulate Levante for being clever, because they know how to provoke, simulate, not give back the ball, waste time, and that is also part of football.”
“I don’t want to use the word, I am not sure if the word is rude, if it is it’s not my intention but I can’t find another – the dirty side of football, you know: the faking, the provocation, gaining time, not giving the ball.”
So, there you have it: Jose Mourinho complains about the underhand tactics of another team. Satire is officially dead!

Spreading the love

Coming so soon after Barcelona’s 8-0 thrashing of Osasuna, Levante’s defeat of Madrid was a godsend to those who oppose a fairer distribution of television revenue in Spain.
An attempt by Sevilla president, Jose Maria del Nido, to mobilise clubs campaign against the current arrangement which favours the big two, fell on deaf ears.
He had hoped a meeting on Thursday at the LFP’s headquarters in Madrid, attended by officials from Real and Barca, would give fresh impetus to his campaign.
However, Sevilla director general Jose Maria Cruz said the meeting had been “An afternoon tea of pessimists and good for nothings. We only had a praiseworthy defence from Espanyol and (Real) Betis. The rest of those that attended have remained silent as if it wasn’t an issue for them.”
Del Nido told a meeting of one of Sevilla’s supporters’ groups: “It was a day of disillusion, more for the silence than for what was heard.”
Nonetheless, he remains one of life’s optimists and it didn’t take him long to reaffirm his commitment to fairer distribution.
He said: “But the next morning the hope returned and I can say that Real Madrid and Barcelona have zero chance of winning this battle.”

Goal of the day

Luka Modric showed why Chelsea were so keen to sign him with this stunning effort in Tottenham’s 4-0 win over Liverpool.