Is Jose Mourinho putting out feelers for a return to England at the end of the season?

According to a report in The Sunday Times (subscription required), an unnamed source close to Mourinho intimated that the Real coach could leave. "He was sick and tired of this situation at Madrid.

Today, Real Madrid played as it should have in the first leg. The first half began so brightly for Real with Gonzalo Higuain the main culprit for not finishing those chances. Gerard Pique was caught napping and the Argentinian striker should have done much, much better. Minutes later, Pinto was barely able to foil Higuain whose timing was less than impeccable.

Real dissension in the ranks?

The Real Madrid fans are in a barracking mood, just like the fans giving stick to Arsene Wenger. The Barca game blew up in their face because Mou decided to stick 11 men behind the ball and with the exception of an 11th minute of enterprise, played like he was afraid to lose which is exactly what happened.

Jose Mourinho's intentions were perfectly telegraphed as he consigned Mesut Oezil and Esteban Granero to anonymity. He started three holding midfielders with Lassana Diarra, Xabi Alonso, and Pepe in a deliberate park the bus tactics. The last mentioned was relocated to midfield from his usual centre back position with Sergio Ramos partnering Ricardo Carvalho.

Cristiano Ronaldo put Real up in the 11th minute as he took advantage of the gaping hole between Jose Pinto's legs to swing the ball through after Karim Benzema sprang him free from midfield. That was it for Real's endeavours. Barca momentarily stunned took over the match keeping Iker Casillas busy.

The battle between the two GQs resumes

Transfer windows are always silly season but they pale in comparison to the sort of collective psychosis and paranoia engendered by El Clasico.

The hysteria before tomorrow's Copa De Rey semi-final first leg has gems like if Mourinho plays Pepe in the midfield then Real has a winning record in the Clasicos.

Disaster for Malaga's goalie as Karim Benzema's speculative shot results in the ball squeezing past his arms and legs and trickles into goal. A case of the willies? It was actually the only blemish in an otherwise fine performance by Willy Caballero to keep Real at bay.

The 1-0 victory in the second leg gave Real a winning aggregate of 4-2 advancing them to the Copa Del Rey quarterfinals where they are almost sure to meet Barca, 4-0 winners against Osasuna in their first leg.

szólj hozzá: Real Madrid 1-3 Barcelona

There are fewer joys in the world than the spectacle of seeing Barca coming to the Santiago Bernabeu and beat the crap out of Jose Mourinho's brownshirts. Which they proceeded to do summarily in the first edition of this year's El Clasico.

Real is considered favorites to win La Liga and the Champions League this season but they need to solve the riddle that Barca poses them.

szólj hozzá: Ajax v Real

This was a cruel match to watch. Cruel because Ajax deserved both goals that were ruled controversially offside. Those goals would have been enough to see them go to the knock out stage along with Real even as Lyon was pounding Dinamo Zagreb in the other group match.

Looking for accommodation? There's a vacancy between those ears

Robbie Savage, genius and clairvoyant extraordinaire, gets Arsenal new signing, Per Mertesacker, all confused with national team mate Christoph Metzelder. This happened a week ago in his BBC show 606 and many have pointed out the howler but it still holds good because Savage cannot be savaged enough.

If football disparity could be measured by economic indicators like the GINI co-efficient, then La Liga would score a .8. Or should we call it despair-ity. The fact is that there is no chance any club can compete with Barca and Real. The chasm has become a continental drift and every indication is that it will get worse.

According to The Sun, the Sleazy One could be facing up to a 15 match ban for his organ trafficking ways. The Spanish Federation woke up to the world chortling at their lack of spine. At the very least a 4 match ban is contemplated.

As Bashar Al Assad looks on Mourinho scoops dirt out of Tito Vilanova's eye

There has been much talk of a Jose Mourinho return to the Premiership after his Real Madrid spell. It has been fueled partially by conjecture but mostly by the man himself who has talked of the emotional pull of his days at Chelsea.

The reaction of the commentators around the world irrespective of language or TV station was one of uniform horror as Jose Mourinho goes neanderthal on Barca assistant coach Tito Vilanova and then walks away smirking. Those Real Madrid players have a fine role model. Can you blame them for being sore losers?

Cesc Fabregas's night was not done after his critical pass contributed to the winning goal. He was brought down moments later by Marcelo's vicious scissor tackle for which the Brazilian received a red card sparking a full out conflagration on the sidelines as Fabregas lay writhing on the pitch.

Cesc Fabregas came on for the last 10 minutes in the second half to make his Barca debut as the match hung in the balance with Karim Benzema equalizing for Real moments before. Would this be the turning point for Real?

As it turned out Fabregas made a critical contribution to the winning goal when he found Messi with an incisive pass which the Argentinian turned towards Adriano who had timed his run to perfection.

Cristiano Ronaldo should feel rightly aggrieved because Victor Valdes did grab his leg but the penalty was not given. In addition, Valdes could have been red carded.

Before the Madrid fans get their knickers in a twist Barca were equally hard done by the referee, Teixeira Vitienes who failed to spot or chose to ignore Marcelo's blatant foul on Pedro in the box.

The Super Copa 1st leg between the two behemoths made the Community Shield seem glacial in comparison.

This is it, the two best clubs in the world going mano e mano. Within all the histrionics and the grandstanding was a heads up play by Karim Benzema resulting in a Mesut Oezil goal followed by a gem of an equalizer by David Villa.

Arsene Wenger is set to sign 16 year old Jose Rodriguez of Real Madrid. The midfielder at such a tender age shows a complete array of skills that makes him a natural number 4. He became the MVP of the U17 Club World Cup after displays like the one he had against Schalke (above) and Barca.

Pele's favourite player and the biggest Brazilian hope in years has spurned interest in joining the big European clubs. All the rumours were that Real had beaten Chelsea to the signing by meeting Santos's mind boggling demand of €45m.

Today after days of the Spanish tabloids touting a done deal the striker said in no uncertain terms that nothing would separate him from his club with his focus squarely on the Copa Libertadores final against Penarol.

Cristiano Ronaldo seems to be a liberated man after the series of El Clasicos showcased Leo Messi's versatility as a goalscorer. But Ronaldo's direct and muscular approach is enough to browbeat lesser opposition. Today it was Getafe and he was on target with a hat trick. Nothing elaborate or spectacular.

Karim Benzema's subdued celebration after scoring his first goal against his former club was at odds with the overwhelming relief Jose Mourinho felt. It has been a record of futility for the world's most celebrated club against their French opponent. Actually, it was the first time Real had scored against Lyon away.

Osasuna's Javier Camunas sent Real Madrid into a world of pain with a wonderfully placed strike that clipped the woodwork but fortunately went in (Robin Van Persie will have something to say about that). With this loss, Real are 7 points behind Barca and as Sid Lowe points out, the race for the title maybe all but over.

Cristiano Ronaldo was the headline grabber with three of the goals but the bigger story was Kaka scoring his first goal after returning from an eight month injury layoff. Jose Mourinho celebrated in his usual over the top style which led to this bit of agitprop by Cani. The Villareal midfielder was punished with a red card.