Jose Mourinho has revealed that Barcelona’s Lionel Messi gave him “nightmares” during his first stint as Real Madrid manager from 2010 to 2013.
The Portuguese tactician revealed this in his self-titled Netflix documentary.
Barcelona demolished Mourinho’s Real Madrid 5-0 in his first El Clasico at the capital club.
Real Madrid managed a 1-1 draw at the Bernabeu in the reverse fixture.
The Catalan club knocked Mourinho’s side out in the Champions League semis, while it was Madrid who beat their arch-rivals in the Copa del Rey final.
Reflecting on that rivalry, Mourinho admitted curtailing Messi was a focal point of his strategy.
He said, “I was having a nightmare. ‘What can we do to stop him?’
“From the first [El Clasico] game, I knew that we couldn’t be better than them doing the same as they do.
“To beat them, we had to be different both on and off the pitch.
“We were football enemies in the sense we fought for the same cup, the same league, the same Champions League. I think it was a good thing.”
