Mourinho keeps Clasico midas touch 13 years on as La Liga heats up

The Real Madrid manager celebrated Kylian Mbappe's late winner at Barcelona on Sunday with a trademark knee slide, as he maintained his midas touch over their bitter rivals.

Mourinho has become just the third Real boss to go six El Clasicos in a row without defeat - 13 years after he last led Los Blancos in this fixture.

Four wins and two draws in his past six matches in charge of Real Madrid against Barcelona puts him up there with Miguel Munoz (1962 to 1965) and Vicente del Bosque (2001 to 2003).

And more importantly for Mourinho, Mbappe's double in Real's 2-1 win ended Barcelona's nine-game unbeaten domestic run with a crucial Clasico victory at the Camp Nou.

A Real defeat would have allowed Barcelona to establish a commanding nine-point advantage but the result has transformed the top of La Liga, bringing Mourinho's side to within three points of their rivals.

"In my view, Real Madrid do not play to win at the Camp Nou, Real Madrid play to win La Liga," Mourinho said.

"We could win with luck, but we won with calmness and with all merit," he said. "It's a very strong group. Everyone works very hard. Everyone was ready to win.

"The credit goes to the players. When you win, the credit goes to the players. But when you lose, the blame falls on you. And that's why we see coaches being sacked from their positions every week."

Kaynak: BBC News World RSS (Açık Basın / Haber Servisi)