Former Real Madrid goalkeeper Jerzy Dudek has recalled the moment ex-Los Blancos boss Jose Mourninho went wild with rage and accused the squad of having a ‘back-stabbing rat’ among them.
In a new book serialised in El Confidencial, Dudek writes about the 1-1 draw with Barcelona at the Santiago Bernabeu in 2011. It was deemed a good result for Real at the time as they had to play most of the game with 10 men after Raul Albiol was sent off.
But Mourinho flew into a rage with his players after his plans to play Pepe in midfield, a tactic he thought would surprise Barcelona, made it into the press before kick off.
It has long been thought that the Portuguese fell out with club captain Iker Casillas over leaks to the press – his girlfriend is a Spanish sports reporter. But strories have also emerged suggested Mourinho thought Esteban Granero was the source of the leaks.
In his book, Dudek wrote: “Mourinho came to the dressing room and said that the result was not bad. Indeed, as for almost the entire second half we played with 10 men after Raul Albiol’s red card.
“And then he added: ‘I see your relations with media are quite good. I know we have to get along with them but I didn’t think you were getting along that well. I heard from them that you do not want the meetings before the games, that we practice set-pieces wrong way and our tactical trainings are not good enough.
“‘I turn on my TV four hours before the game and what the f*** do I see? That the journo is giving away our squad.’
“Mourinho started shouting: ‘How could we ever surprise Barca if one of you is a rat! Yes, yes a rat! Somebody released the info about the starting XI before the game.'”
