I Am Scouted by Real Madrid

According to the Associated Press, UEFA has appointed Chief Referee Corina as the official observer to go to Camp Nou to supervise this "battle of the century."

In the first leg, Barcelona drew 1:1 with Real Madrid away; but before Barcelona scored, German referee Wolfgang Stark had sent off Real Madrid central defender Pepe. Real Madrid appealed to UEFA after the match but was rejected.

For Real Madrid coach Mourinho, Debruyne could be considered a "familiar face."

In last season’s Champions League semi-final second leg between Inter Milan and Barcelona, Mourinho, then still the Inter coach, suffered a major blow in the first half—Debruyne directly sent off Motta. Ultimately, Inter lost 0:1 to Barcelona in that match.

Corina, remembered by fans as the "bald referee," officiated the 2002 World Cup final in Korea and Japan and is considered one of the best football referees.

Coincidentally, the last time Real Madrid met Barcelona in the Champions League semi-finals, Corina was the referee for the second leg.

In that 2002 match, Real Madrid drew 1:1 at home against Barcelona and advanced to the final, eventually winning the championship.

Before Barcelona’s match against Real Madrid, many media outlets speculated on where Mourinho would appear at Camp Nou—whether in the VIP box or a special box prepared for the high-ranking officials?

But Mourinho’s final choice was surprising: he didn’t go to Camp Nou to watch the match at all, choosing to stay at the hotel instead. This way, he wouldn’t hear the Barcelona fans’ chants of "Mourinho, bastard! Long live the champion!" or the song newly composed by a Catalonian singer against Mourinho, "Why! Why!"

In the last match against Barcelona, Mourinho received a red card and was sent off for protesting against the fourth official.

Recently, UEFA notified Real Madrid Club: During the designated times before, after, and even during the match, Mourinho cannot call, text, or contact the players and coaches in any other way; he can only enter the locker room 15 minutes after the match ends. Mourinho must comply with these rules, or he will face further penalties.

Where Mourinho would appear at Camp Nou has been a mystery for the past week.

The home 1:1 score makes it challenging for Real Madrid to win away.

But not everyone thinks so; Chen Zhong said after the match against Zaragoza, "There’s no impossible task, we will achieve a comeback at Camp Nou."

When playing against the relegation-threatened team, Mourinho’s players were somewhat distracted; the trident of Kaka, Benzema, and Higuain didn’t look as impressive as a week ago, and the usually steady Casillas and Cavaleiro also made fatal errors, as they were thinking about another match.

Kaka also said, "In the first half, we played poorly because we were all thinking about the match against Barcelona, which is a bad attitude. I know the league is a long competition; you can lose points, but not in this way."

The club’s top executives likewise expressed their belief that Real Madrid has a chance to defeat Barcelona away. General Manager Valdano said in a post-match interview, "No one doubts Mourinho, the club still supports the Portuguese 100%, the players indeed had some attitude problems in the league matches, but this further shows how much they care about the Champions League. I believe Real Madrid has a chance to turn things around, and if anyone is a firm believer in heroism, I think it must be Real Madrid’s players..."

Club President Florentino also stated, "Real Madrid will not give up; it’s not time to surrender yet. The semi-final is a two-legged tie, and we are only trailing in the first half..."

Marca revealed that initially, only 10 senior club officials planned to accompany the team to Camp Nou, but ultimately Florentino requested all 16 senior officials go to cheer for the team, which shows the determination of Real Madrid’s top brass to win this match.

Everyone is also aware of how difficult it is to beat Barcelona by two goals away.

The first difficulty Mourinho needs to overcome is yet another personnel crisis in the midfield and backline.

Cavaleiro’s suspension and Khedira’s injury directly result in no one to replace Pepe after he was sent off with a red card. At Camp Nou, Cavaleiro returns from suspension, but Khedira continues to be absent, and Pepe, who played a crucial role in the last two matches against Barcelona, is suspended due to a red card, Ramos is also unable to play, and even Mourinho himself can’t direct the game from the coaching bench.

The midfield and backline will undergo large-scale adjustments, with the central defender combination being only Cavaleiro and Albiol, the latter having performed very poorly in the previous three Derbies.

What’s more, Real Madrid is destined to go head-to-head with Barcelona away, leaving more space for the opponent’s counter-attack, increasing the pressure on the defense, which will undoubtedly make Mourinho very distressed.

Even if there are problems with the defense, Mourinho must grit his teeth and go head-to-head against Barcelona.

But now he has no other choice; the score from the first leg, the pressure from the public opinion, fans, and even the club executives, forces him to change tactics at Camp Nou. In the previous three matches, Real Madrid used a destructive strategy to limit Barcelona by playing weak against strong.

Mourinho is not a coach who dares not take risks; he has tried deploying three forwards or even four forwards in the past when trailing, and Real Madrid has enough cards offensively for Mourinho to choose from.

In the previous three Derbies, Mourinho only deployed three attackers, while he has Di Maria, Benzema, and Higuain available on the bench, all of whom performed excellently in the league match against Valencia the previous weekend, making it impossible for Mourinho not to be tempted.

Pepe’s suspension, Khedira’s injury, could likely force the Portuguese to change the three defensive midfielder formation, at least by deploying Granero, Real Madrid’s midfield aggression will undoubtedly decrease, while the creativity conversely increases.

Based on the experience of Inter Milan and Barcelona’s two battles in the semi-finals last season, Mourinho is likely to start with an offensive gamble at Camp Nou; if he can grab a goal, Real Madrid may have a chance, and the subsequent contest can only be wide open. Compared to the previous three Derbies, the fourth match is destined to be an exciting contest and no longer a string of fouls and diving.

In fact, this might also be a self-crisis PR move by Mourinho, because after the previous three Derbies, some Madrid fans have started to complain about Mourinho’s tactical arrangements, they cannot accept that Real Madrid has to use destructive tactics to play against Barcelona rather than actively create scoring opportunities. Fouls and dueling have severely affected Real Madrid’s team image.

Even though the Portuguese won them the King’s Cup, they still cannot accept that the Derby is so ugly.

Facing Barcelona, Mourinho always chooses destruction rather than creation.

In Madrid, there are now divisions among fans, and if you watch a match in a bar during this time, you’ll find that places with at least two TVs must not be sat in the wrong spot. Like the stadium, there is also a "home and away" distinction—some fans continue to support Real Madrid, while others have started to frantically support Barcelona, because they are tired of Mourinho’s football and hope a defeat will make Real Madrid change direction.

At Camp Nou is where the changes begin, because Mourinho has no other choice; he can only go all out, and this match could even be considered Real Madrid’s final duel of the season.