I Am Scouted by Real Madrid

On Tuesday, Guardiola retaliated against Mourinho’s comments at the pre-match press conference; on Wednesday, Messi struck back at Real Madrid with goals on the field; on Thursday, Barcelona Club decided to officially file a complaint to UEFA against the outspoken Mourinho. In fact, on the plane back to Barcelona after the match, President Rosell convened the club’s top officials for a meeting, and ultimately made a decision: to lodge a complaint against Mourinho in Europe.

On Thursday afternoon, the top officials of Barcelona Club met again and formally submitted a "complaint document" to UEFA.

Regarding Mourinho’s claim that Barcelona dominates Europe single-handedly and has agreements with referees, Barcelona’s top officials were very angry. They criticized, "This Portuguese has smeared our reputation, crossing the boundaries of conduct rules, he must be punished." Barcelona Club’s spokesperson Freixa also stated, "His comments questioning our history, our titles, and our relationship with the United Nations Children’s Fund are unacceptable. We don’t want to fuel the fire, but rather extinguish it. We believe coaches should focus on football, not other topics, and what he said can easily incite violence."

Additionally, Barcelona Club expressed dissatisfaction to UEFA regarding Real Madrid’s failure to water the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium pitch before the match, which they believe violated the pre-match agreement between the two clubs.

Toni stated that their complaint against Mourinho would not affect the relationship between Barcelona and Real Madrid: "At the club level, our relationship remains very friendly, but this does not contradict Barcelona Club’s need to defend its interests." Barcelona Club’s top officials also stated that Barcelona’s coaches would never act like Mourinho.

Barcelona’s complaint immediately provoked a response from Real Madrid. On Thursday evening, Real Madrid Club issued an announcement on its official website, indicating that Real Madrid is forced to file a complaint to UEFA against Barcelona’s players over anti-sporting behavior on the field, stating, "They pretended to be attacked, which led to Pepe being unfairly sent off." Real Madrid’s official stance is that Barcelona players keep acting on the field, and after each performance, a group of Barcelona players would demand the referee make a favorable ruling for them. Real Madrid cited several examples, such as Pedro colliding with Alvaro, resulting in the latter receiving a yellow card; Marcelo hardly hit Busquets’ face, yet the latter acted out his face being hit; Pepe’s foul against Alves, Barcelona players carried out on a stretcher, but in fact, Pepe did not touch Alves at all.

Real Madrid Club stated that historically, Real Madrid has never complained against other clubs, but this time, they have to defend their interests and lodge a complaint to UEFA against Barcelona.

Real Madrid held a high-level meeting at 8 PM on Thursday and published the announcement on its club website at 10 PM, expressing anger towards Barcelona and support for Mourinho. Real Madrid’s official website believes that Mourinho was merely exercising his right to freedom of speech, and this is evidence of his willingness to protest against anti-sporting, dishonest, and unsporting spirit behavior at all costs.

Overall, Real Madrid and Barcelona have officially ignited a war at a club level, and now, it’s up to the competence of the lawyers from both sides and their influence in UEFA.

It is worth mentioning that the UEFA Disciplinary Committee will not process related complaints until May 6 (three days after the second leg of the match between the two sides), and as for the date of the punishment decision, it is likely to be delayed.

Moreover, UEFA will investigate a series of problems including Bernabeu stadium fans throwing objects, Pepe’s red card, and Pinto’s brawl during halftime.