Bernabéu tires of troubador's tune

It is going to be a long season for José Mourinho. With Real Madrid on the way to a 4-1 victory over Athletic Bilbao after the Portuguese coach had put out a daringly offensive team - the exact opposite of the formation he was panned for fielding in last week's cup defeat against Barcelona - the hardened Ultras Sur end of the Bernabéu began its habitual chorus of "José Mourinho" to the tune of Il Trovatore, only for jeers and whistles to ring out around the Bernabéu.

Halfway through the season and Real is five points clear of Barça, its finest position in three-and-a-half seasons of Catalan dominance. A Liga title ought to be enough incentive for some solidarity, one might think, but as for Mourinho's relations with the Real Madrid fanbase, a lot depends on what happens this Wednesday in Camp Nou, and the style of the performance, even if the result is insufficient to keep his side in the third most important competition after the league and Europe.

Perhaps the fans don't like to be told they are right. Having taken the blame for another defeat at the hands of Barcelona, Mourinho's line-up for Sunday's match seemed so magnanimous that it could only be petulance in disguise. He played four forwards (Kaká, Mesut Özil, Karim Benzema and Cristiano Ronaldo) ahead of a midfield duo of Xabi Alonso and forgotten fan favorite Esteban Granero. But the coach never left his bench during the match; it wasn't his team, he seemed to be saying. It was a sop to the Bernabéu. And in the first half, it was his counterpart, Marcelo Bielsa, who would have enjoyed what he saw, the Argentinean crouching on the edge of the technical area as Mourinho scowled in the dugout.

Breaking freely through Madrid's flimsy defensive lines, Athletic went ahead when Fernando Llorente cushion-volleyed Ander Herrera's magnificent cross in the 13th minute. Bilbao had chances to put Real in an even tighter corner, with Llorente and Óscar de Marcos both wasting excellent opportunities. Madrid's theoretically powerful attack was unable to break the Bilbao back line until Marcelo added to the numbers, the left back culminating a brilliant first-touch passing move that also involved Özil and Benzema. In the second half, two penalties for Ronaldo - the second also leading to De Marcos' expulsion - defused the contest before sub José Callejón took his chance to round off a bitter victory for his boss.

Sunday was more bitter still for Fabri, fired as Granada coach after bringing the club into La Primera last season via the playoffs. One point above relegation at the halfway point may not have been the desired position, but it will be hard for the new coach to ignore the potential to sink further given the paucity of his resources.