Casillas rift with Mourinho

Mourinho and Casillas on collision course after phone row

By David Redshaw
Saturday 27 August 2011

Rumours of a fallout between Real Madrid boss José Mourinho and his goalkeeper Iker Casillas are now a reality, according to Friday´s digital edition of El Confidencial. While nobody outside of the dressing room at the club will openly admit there is a problem, it seems Casillas´ demotion to the bench for Wednesday´s Trofeo Santiago Bernabéu game against Galatasaray was not just a case of resting the Spain captain.

It was reported that Mourinho admitted to a close circle of friends, and in front of his players, that Casillas was left out of the starting line-up as punishment for his phone calls to Barcelona´s Xavi Hernández and Carles Puyol following the ill-tempered meeting between the two sides in the second leg of the Supercopa de España. Casillas had contacted his Spanish international teammates to offer an olive branch to try to defuse an already volatile situation, yet the Portuguese has interpreted this as crossing the line between what goes on inside the dressing room and what gets aired publicly.

Mourinho also showed his annoyance in the Press conference after Wednesday´s game. Questioned about Casillas´ decision to make the calls, he replied: “Casillas can phone who he wants, he doesn´t need my permission,” before rising from his chair and walking out of the room. Even so, barring any last minute surprises Casillas is expected to be restored to the team for Sunday´s opening fixture of the 2011/12 La Liga season against Real Zaragoza at La Romareda.

Meanwhile, Mourinho has decided not to accept an invitation from UEFA to be present at the organisations´ summit of Europe´s top coaches, scheduled to take place in Nyon, Switzerland, on August 31 and September 1. UEFA has tried to convince the former Chelsea and Porto boss to attend the event, even though it is thought his presence might have diverted attention from the purpose of the meeting. The incidents at the end of last week´s Supercopa game with Barcelona when Mourinho was seen to poke his finger in the eye of Tito Vilanova, a member of Barca´s coaching staff, were seen around the world and have damaged his image in the eyes of many.

In contrast, Barcelona´s Pep Guardiola confirmed his attendance some days ago.

"I get on very well with him, just like the rest. Sometimes we disagree on certain things, but our relationship is very good. The situation is normal," Casillas is quoted as saying by Marca.

"I have always defended him and he has done the same with me. There are no problems whatsoever. Things have been good right from the start, and to say there is a bad relation between us is absolutely false."