Handbags at El Molinón, Forlan

José Mourinho watched his team overcome Sporting Gijón this weekend in what turned out to be a feisty and intense affair. After being sent off against Murcia in the Copa del Rey, the Real Madrid manager was forced to watch the game from one of El Molinón’s VIP boxes. While Sporting fans are renowned for their excellent support, the added intensity surrounding the game came from two men; the managers, Mourinho and Manolo Preciado. It began with Mourinho having a go at Preciado for playing a weakened team against Barcelona, a game which Barcelona of course went on to win. Sick of Mourinho’s media antics, Preciado responded on Friday by calling him a “canalla”, which translates roughly as “scumbag”. Lovely. Going into the game, there was a fantastic atmosphere. Mourinho, comfy up in the dark VIP box was in contact with coach Rui Faria, who was passing his messages on to assistant Aitor Karanka. Madrid made a good start; a lively Gonzalo Higuaín struck the post after ten minutes, and then turned provider for Ángel di María who fired over from close range. Sporting were playing quite well too, but anything they created tended to find Iker Casillas. But at the other end, Sporting keeper Juan Pablo was in equally good form; first pulling off a top class save from Di María’s drive, then standing tall to deny Higuaín one-on-one. Minutes later he was at it again, this time keeping substitute Karim Benzema’s shot out. The pressure was building and eventually the breakthrough came in the 82nd minute. This time Juan Pablo was unable to keep hold of, or parry away Benzema’s header, and Higuaín was on hand to tap the rebound in. Another important goal scored by Higuaín and another important contribution from a recently revived Benzema. Just one minute later Sporting’s moment came (and went). A nice piece of approach play ended with a perfect cross towards David Barral, but his header was saved wonderfully by Casillas. “Incredible,” as Barral put it. “I still wonder how he got his hand to it.” Probably not the first time the Spanish goalkeeper has left people with that thought. That wasn’t the end of the action though. Sporting centre-back Alberto Botía (who had played very well all game) was sent off in the 93rd minute for chopping down a rampaging Cristiano Ronaldo. My favourite part though, came as Ronaldo jumped straight up after the foul (really), and arrogantly screamed “más!, más!, más!” – more, more, more. He certainly enjoyed it. But the Sporting fans next to him were, let’s just say, not best pleased with the winger. Cristiano wasn’t finished there though. Oh no. “There was a lot of kicking, a lot of ‘anti-football’ and that’s difficult to play against,” he said after the match. Probably not a popular thing to say, but I doubt that matters in the world of Cristiano Ronaldo. There was one more piece of drama to end an eventful night. According to some reports, as Preciado made his way to his car, he encountered the Madrid team coach in the parking lot. The Spaniard said he was taunted by one of Mourinho’s assistants who was shouting “A Segunda!” – a reference to his team’s possible drop to the second division.