Jose Mourinho’s 17 Clasico meetings ranked: Special One’s most memorable Real Madrid vs. Barcelona clashes
Jose Mourinho’s 17 Clasico meetings ranked: Special One’s most memorable Real Madrid vs. Barcelona clashes originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
Barcelona host Real Madrid in the first Clasico of the 2026-27 season on Sunday at Camp Nou.
The game marks Jose Mourinho’s return to one of the most storied fixtures in global soccer after more than 13 years away.
Remarkably, despite spells in charge of prominent European clubs including Chelsea, Manchester United, Roma and Benfica, Mourinho has not faced Barcelona in a competitive fixture since.
It will be intriguing to see the extent to which "The Special One" slips straight back into the old routine as Barcelona’s chief antagonist.
The Clasico clashes during Mourinho’s initial three seasons in charge, mostly head-to-head with archrival Pep Guardiola, added a fresh layer of enmity to a history of shared hatred between La Liga’s two giants.
It was an incredible time, with Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo going up against one another in their playing primes. There was controversy, drama and unending arguments aplenty.
Over the course of three years, Mourinho’s Madrid played Barcelona 17 times, games that usually felt seismic. Games that made the world stop with bated breath.
Allow us to jog your memory.
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Jose Mourinho’s 17 Clasicos ranked
17. Real Madrid 2-1 Barcelona (La Liga: March 2, 2013)
Mourinho’s most recent Clasico in charge yielded three points and gave Madrid their first home league win in the fixture since 2008. Benzema gave Los Blancos an early lead before Lionel Messi netted his 50th goal of an absurd individual season, also his 18th in Clasicos to match compatriot Alfredo Di Stefano in the all-time stakes.
Ramos headed home the decisive goal from Luka Modric’s corner in the 82nd minute, and a furious Valdes talked himself into a red card after full time. But the wider context was one of the defeated side leaving the Spanish capital still 13 points ahead of their rivals, while Mourinho only deployed Ronaldo as a second-half substitute. Resting star players for the forthcoming Champions League encounter with Manchester United was the priority.
16. Real Madrid 1-1 Barcelona (Copa del Rey semifinal: January 30, 2013)
Holders Barcelona struck first early in the second half of this Copa del Rey semi, with Messi finding an opportunistic assist for Cesc Fabregas early in the second half.
Rafael Varane brought the Santiago Bernabeu to its feet with an excellent header on the end of Mesut Ozil’s cross inside the final 10 minutes.
15. Barcelona 1-1 Real Madrid (Champions League semifinal: May 3, 2011)
This might feel like a very low ranking for a match that sealed Barca’s place in the Champions League final at Madrid’s expense, but there was an air of collective fatigue around the contest as the sides met for a fourth time in a brutal 18-day period.
Guardiola’s side were already 2-0 up from the first leg, a particularly strong advantage in the Champions League’s away goals era. Once Pedro converted Andres Iniesta’s through ball in the 54th minute, the tie was effectively settled. Marcelo leveled on the night after Angel Di Maria hit the post.
14. Real Madrid 1-2 Barcelona (Copa del Rey quarterfinal: January 18, 2012)
Ronaldo drilled a left-footed shot past Barcelona’s cup goalkeeper Jose Pinto to give Madrid an early lead that they maintained until early in the second half, when Carles Puyol powered home a header.
Karim Benzema hit the post, but Eric Abidal gave Barcelona a lead to take back to Camp Nou on the end of a sumptuous chipped pass from Messi. This would rank higher if it were deeper into the competition.
13. Barcelona 2-2 Real Madrid (Copa del Rey quarterfinal: January 25, 2012)
The 2011/12 Copa del Rey ended up being the final trophy of Guardiola’s Barcelona tenure and his team appeared to be cruising into the semis when Messi crafted an opener for Pedro before Dani Alves smashed an unstoppable angled drive in to the top corner.
Ronaldo smartly rounded Pinto to reduce the arrears and Benzema’s strike 18 minutes from time set up a grandstand finish, as well as reminding Barca that Mourinho’s men were going nowhere in that season’s La Liga title race.
12. Real Madrid 1-1 Barcelona (La Liga: April 16, 2011)
The first of the epic Mourinho vs. Guardiola 18-day slog carried something of the phony war about it. Barca were in a huge position of strength, eight points clear at the top of La Liga. That advantage remaining intact at the end of a tense 90 minutes amounted to"job done" for the Blaugrana.
The onus was on Madrid to breathe fresh life into the title race and Adriano produced a brilliant goalline clearance to deny Ronaldo before halftime. CR7 then hit the base of Victor Valdes’ left post with a dipping free-kick, only for the entire complexion of the contest – and indeed the title race – to alter when Raul Albiol was sent off for hauling down David Villa.
Messi made no mistake from the spot but Barca were unable to cash in on their man advantage and Ronaldo levelled eight minutes from time with a penalty of his own after Dani Alves clumsily fouled Marcelo.
11. Barcelona 3-2 Real Madrid (Supercopa de Espana: August 23, 2012)
In the first meeting of the post-Guardiola era, Tito Vilanova’s Barca took on Mourinho’s Spanish champions and the rivals combined to produce a thrilling second half at Camp Nou.
Ronaldo got in front of Sergio Busquets to power home from Ozil’s right-wing corner. From the restart, Javier Mascherano pinged a delightful lofted pass for Pedro to equalise and that ignited Barcelona. Sergio Ramos blundered into Iniesta and Messi sent Iker Casillas the wrong way from the penalty spot before Xavi slotted home to make it 3-1.
Casillas made a fabulous save to prevent Messi from adding another, and Madrid sprang up the other end, where Di Maria capitalised on a shocking error from Valdes. It would prove crucial in the final analysis.
10. Real Madrid 2-1 Barcelona (Supercopa de Espana: August 29, 2012)
When the teams reconvened six days later, Gonzalo Higuain leveled the aggregate score after Mascherano misjudged Pepe’s punt downfield. Ronaldo made it 2-0, and Barcelona’s nightmare opening half-hour conclude
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