Mourinho relief as Real Madrid edge out spirited Mallorc
Jose Mourinho praised Real Mallorca after his Real Madrid side were forced to dig deep for the three points, which helps keep them clear of Barcelona at the top of La Liga, at the Iberostar Stadium on Saturday .
Real went behind to Tomer Hemed's first-half header before goals from substitute Gonzalo Higuain and Jose Callejon turned the game around. "They were very focused and all their men played together waiting for a counter-attack," Mourinho said. "They had a fantastic first half. Sometimes you have to give credit to your opponent.
"We had to take risks in the second half to win, and note the specified changes we would have to make if we scored again. I replaced Marcelo because I wanted to use three defenders against an opponent with two wingers and a centre-forward. Many times one must replace players for tactical reasons, not because they played badly."
Champions Barcelona kicked off against Real Betis last night eight points behind Real. Valencia missed the chance to close the gap on the top two as they were surprisingly beaten 1-0 at home by Real Sociedad. Antoine Griezmann's goal, shortly before the hour, handed Los Che just a second home league defeat of the season.
In Italy, Juventus edged to the top of Serie A with a stumbling 1-1 draw at home to Cagliari. Mirko Vucinic's early strike put Antonio Conte's side ahead as the Old Lady dominated the first-half, only for Andrea Cossu to power in an equaliser three minutes after the restart. Juventus led Milan by a single point ahead of last night's Milan derby.
Saturday's match between Catania and Roma was abandoned after a waterlogged pitch led to farcical scenes in Sicily. The game was called off midway through the second half following heavy rain, the scores level at 1-1.
Former Chelsea, Portsmouth and West Ham manager Avram Grant began his first managerial job since leaving Upton Park by pledging to help Partizan Belgrade retain their title.
The World Cup winner and Napoli and Barcelona legend Diego Maradona has been admitted to a hospital in Dubai, where he coaches Al Wasl, for the removal of kidney stones. His club said the former Argentina great complained of abdominal pains yesterday.
"We had to take risks in the second half to win, and note the specified changes we would have to make if we scored again. I replaced Marcelo because I wanted to use three defenders against an opponent with two wingers and a centre-forward. Many times one must replace players for tactical reasons, not because they played badly."
Champions Barcelona kicked off against Real Betis last night eight points behind Real. Valencia missed the chance to close the gap on the top two as they were surprisingly beaten 1-0 at home by Real Sociedad. Antoine Griezmann's goal, shortly before the hour, handed Los Che just a second home league defeat of the season.
In Italy, Juventus edged to the top of Serie A with a stumbling 1-1 draw at home to Cagliari. Mirko Vucinic's early strike put Antonio Conte's side ahead as the Old Lady dominated the first-half, only for Andrea Cossu to power in an equaliser three minutes after the restart. Juventus led Milan by a single point ahead of last night's Milan derby.
Saturday's match between Catania and Roma was abandoned after a waterlogged pitch led to farcical scenes in Sicily. The game was called off midway through the second half following heavy rain, the scores level at 1-1.
Former Chelsea, Portsmouth and West Ham manager Avram Grant began his first managerial job since leaving Upton Park by pledging to help Partizan Belgrade retain their title.
The World Cup winner and Napoli and Barcelona legend Diego Maradona has been admitted to a hospital in Dubai, where he coaches Al Wasl, for the removal of kidney stones. His club said the former Argentina great complained of abdominal pains yesterday.
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