Marcelo’s angry foul on Barcelona’s Cesc Fabregas, which marred the end of Wednesday’s Spanish Supercup final, was an unnecessary attack given it occurred moments before the whistle in a game his team was about to lose. But it was also the latest black mark on a Real Madrid team that, under Jose Mourinho, has become known more for its indefensible outbursts and its postgame complaining than it has for its sometimes unbeatable play.

Fabregas let Marcelo off the hook for his takedown, attributing it to the fevered nature of the rivalry. (He no doubt would have been less forgiving if the tackle had snapped his leg, which it could have.) But his teammates were furious.

“Real Madrid should be concerned about the image it is giving; it’s very damaging,” Barcelona midfielder Xavi said. “Marcelo’s tackle has no place in football. Totally shameless, a real shame for football in general this image generated by Real Madrid.”

Defender Gerard Pique placed the blame squarely at the feet of Mourinho.

“Mourinho is destroying Spanish football,” Pique said. “It’s not the first time and it’s always a number of players and the same ones, so there has to be some way of stopping them. I hope they adopt the necessary sanctions.”



Is it embarrassment, or jealousy, or something else that drives Mourinho and his players to lash out? Real Madrid has played seven games against Barcelona since last November. It has won only one of those games, but has managed to have a player sent off in five. That, apparently, is an even trade for Mourinho.

“I won’t say we’re not happy about not winning the Supercup because that would make me a hypocrite,” he said, before adding, “but I’m very happy with the evolution of the team.”

Rather than credit Barcelona’s play over the last year, Mourinho has attributed its success to a mysterious bias from referees and UEFA in favor of Barcelona, comments that earned him a five-match suspension. Marcelo’s foul was tougher to explain away. (He was lucky to still be in the game after an earlier kick to the ribs that dropped Lionel Messi.) Real Madrid’s fans contend argue correctly Barcelona’s players dive to earn calls, a dubious charge from a club that employs Cristiano Ronaldo, but eventually Sergio Ramos’s temper and Pepe’s recklessness circle back to the coach’s leadership. And Mourinho has shown precious little in the last year.

He was sent off in one of Real Madrid’s spring games against Barcelona for sarcastic comments to an official on the sideline; briefly stopped speaking with the news media in a fit of pique; and on Wednesday set a new low when he snuck up behind the Barcelona assistant coach Tito Vilanova during the late-game fracas and reached around to poke him in the eye from behind before backpedaling.

“The images speak for themselves,” Barcelona Manager Pep Guardiola said. “If this doesn’t stop, it’s going to end badly.”

Corner kick: It almost seems surprising that Spain has ever won anything, let alone last summer’s World Cup, given the way the core of its team acts toward one another when they are wearing their club colors.