There’s no manager around who loves shutting up the naysayers quite as much as Jose Mourinho.

We all know what to expect from the Special One by now. Both in terms of his demeanour and his style of play. He’s been in the game long enough for all the tricks up his sleeve to be common knowledge.

But he’s a bit of a myth-buster too is our Jose. And with how Real Madrid took the lead in El Clasico, his first clash with Barcelona since 2013, the football did the talking for him.

We’re not on about how the goal went in here. Kylian Mbappe’s opener was a bizarre finish as the ball deflected into his path by a botched Barca clearance. All he needed to do was run into the ball to fire it in.

What we’re more intrigued by is the build up. Think Mourinho’s teams are all about safety first, anti-football? Think again.

If you didn’t know any better, you’d have thought the players had swapped shirts. Real Madrid were knocking the ball about from one end of the pitch to the other calmly and cleverly.

It wasn’t quite Tiki Taka, but it was definitely more out of the traditional Barca playbook than what we’ve come to expect from a Mourinho team.

All of the back four touched the ball, escaping any attempt of a Barca press. Even stand-in keeper Andriy Lunin got involved.

pic.twitter.com/C5sxy8UWCF

— Fede (@Fedeom7) October 25, 2026

In a way, it was a shame it came off the Barca defender just before Mbappe’s finish, otherwise that could have been one of the great possession-based goals in recent La Liga memory. Maybe it still can be.

Ultimately, Barca hit back via Raphinha to level El Clasico up in the second half, but Mbappe got Madrid back in front with only a few minutes left.

Cue a Mourinho knee slide. Naturally.

Kylian Mbappé with what could be a late winner for Real Madrid! 😱😱

Wild celebrations from Los Blancos, including a Jose Mourinho knee slide, as an away Clásico win beckons! 🙌 pic.twitter.com/c05FU3kdp1

— Premier Sports (@PremSportsTV) October 25, 2026

The football may be evolving. Maybe the players instigated it as much as their coach. But even so, Mourinho had the last laugh. As usual.