Barcelona again better than Real Madrid

Barcelona again better than Real Madrid

Wednesday's game marked another failure. Despite taking the lead early in the two most recent meetings, all Madrid has to show for it is cruelly dashed hopes. This time two defenders scored to rub out Cristiano Ronaldo's capitalization on Jose Manuel Pinto's egregious mistake and lift the Catalans to a 2-1 first-leg lead in the Copa del Rey tie.

Mourinho had never lost at home when leading 1-0 at halftime before. Now he has.

That two defenders scored was not coincidence. One thing Mourinho can't complain about is a lack of chances to crack this Barca team. By now he's figured out how to make his team as frustrating as possible.

Missing of the selfless hustlers he exploited at Inter, Mourinho has adjusted his strategy with Madrid. Several times. This year the broad tactic is to push the energy and pressure high early on, disrupting Barca's passing out of the back and hoping to rattle the tiki-taka groove.

The inclusion of diving, cleat-spike-wielding, eight-cards-in-11-Clasicos Pepe over the cerebral, luxurious Mesut Ozil epitomized the more physical, high-octane lineup.

To an extent, it worked. Barcelona looked disjointed and, at times, crude. It made for less aesthetically pleasing viewing. The thing is, the talent on Barcelona told. This is, after all, the better team. Lionel Messi, the best player in the world who had otherwise been strangled out of the game, chipped the backline in a rare moment of gasp-inducing vision for Eric Abidal to score. And before that Barcelona scored from a corner.

No, seriously. Check the highlights; Barcelona scored from a set piece.

"I keep on thinking that the difference between the two teams are details,” Guardiola said. “We almost never score from a corner and today we did."

Barca played Madrid's game and still won.

But here's the kicker: Barca's dominance may not be enough.

Despite a devastating 3-1 loss in the league back in December, this ruthless robot Mourinho has turned Real into keeps roaring along. Madrid has a sickeningly high goal difference of 46; aside from Barca (44), no other team in La Liga is in the double digits. And, more importantly, the capital club is five points clear at the top of the table.

Barca can win all the cup games it wants, keep standards ridiculously, freakishly high in the big matches, even dominate the Clasicos. Madrid will just keep scything down smaller teams like a harvester tractor, punishing Barca's every draw with cynical consistency.

Mourinho seems to have realized this. He's no longer poking people in the eye, no longer blaming referees for every game he should have won. He's toned down the antics surrounding the Clasico.

"The responsibility is mine, especially when my team loses,” Mourinho said Wednesday. “Victory has many fathers; defeat only one.”

One unfamiliar with Mourinho's body of work might confuse the sentiment underlying that quote with humility.

It's just that he's focused on other things than the Clasico right now. Namely, trying to beat Barcelona without bothering to beat Barcelona.