What next for Real Madrid coach Jose Mourinho? Last season hebecame the first coach to win Spanish, Italian and English titles leading himto suggest a change to the nickname given to him in Britain -- "thespecial one". "They should call me 'the only one' after winning thosetitles," he said in an interview on Portuguese television.
After breaking Barca's run of three La Liga victories andseeing Pep Guardiola into retirement, conquering the Champions League is themain objective for Madrid in the coming season. For a club with an almostunhealthy obsession for European football's premier trophy, anything short of a10th title will be considered failure. But although Mourinho sees both hissquad and Barca's as the best in the world he believes La Liga will be more ofa challenge this coming season. "The league is a very strong, beautifulleague, because the teams are very technical and that's the reason I'm inSpain." he said. Madrid, who play Valencia at the Santiago Bernabeu onSunday, will begin the season with almost the same squad that ended Barcelona'srun last term.
Tito Vilanova will lead Barcelona into unknown territory inthe coming season as the Catalans attempt to progress after four successfulyears under Pep Guardiola. The pressure will be intense as the largely unknowncoach takes over a legacy of 14 titles in 4 seasons left by his friend andcolleague. He goes into the new season looking to stem a resurgent Madrid, whofinished 9 points clear of the Catalans as La Liga champions last time around.
The only addition so far to Barcelona’s squad is the returnof full-back Jordi Alba from Valencia for a fee of €14 Million. Five games inthe first 15 days of the season including a double-header Spanish Supercupclash with Madrid will go some way to revealing how Vilanova will cope with theextra responsibility. Last years Supercup clash was notorious for the spatbetween Vilanova and Jose Mourinho that saw the Portuguese coach poke the thenBarca assistant in the eye. This time around it will be Vilanova who will beattempting to make it one in the eye for Mourinho.
