© EuroFootball.com
Last year's winner of the "Primera" league, Madrid's "Real" club, once again found itself surrounded by dark clouds of scandal. The Spanish sports media giant "Marca" announced on Thursday that two team captains had given an ultimatum to president Florentino Perez - either the coach or the players.
The front page of the Madrid-based and "Real"-supporting "Marca" on Thursday read: "President, in June it's Mourinho or us."
Ultimatum
According to the newspaper, on Tuesday, "Real" captain Iker Casillas and second captain Sergio Ramos visited president F. Perez. During the meeting, which aimed to discuss possible bonuses for the players if they win the UEFA Champions League, the captains stated that in the summer, coach Jose Mourinho must be sold.
If the Portuguese stays in the team, I. Casillas and S. Ramos promised that some players, especially Spaniards, would seek to leave the "Real" club. Interestingly, neither J. Mourinho nor any other member of his coaching staff attended the meeting with the president. The players stated that the team members are united, but only spoke about the players, not the coaching staff.
Reaction
The media statements quickly prompted a reaction from F. Perez himself, who held an urgent press conference on Thursday evening. As expected, F. Perez denied all the information that appeared in the press.
"I broke my own rule of not publicly speaking about the daily affairs of the club because inaccurate information appeared in the press. Neither I. Casillas, nor S. Ramos, presented any ultimatums regarding J. Mourinho - it is all a complete lie.
This information is incorrect and I consider it a serious attack on the club. I have always respected the media and paid attention to criticism, praise, or other things. However, everything has its limits - this is a serious breach of ethics," F. Perez exclaimed.
However, the behavior of the "Real" president during the press conference only fueled the rumors even more. When directly asked four times by journalists if J. Mourinho would leave the Madrid team in the summer, F. Perez evaded the questions and did not provide a direct answer.
"Marca" counterattack
Accused of lying, "Marca" counterattacked on Friday, with the new newspaper cover reading "Marca doesn't lie." The front page published a mobile phone photo showing a conversation via SMS messages between one of the newspaper journalists and an unnamed team member.
In the messages, it is stated that the meeting with the president was not only about bonuses but also about the relationship between J. Mourinho and the players.
"It's not just ... (player's name hidden). I'm telling you, there are others," the SMS message reads. This means that more than one "Real" player would want to leave the team if J. Mourinho continues to coach it.
Criticism and scandals
Lately, the unsuccessful "Real" coach J. Mourinho has been constantly criticized by football experts, fans, and the media.
After 20 rounds of the "La Liga" championship, "Real" has only 40 points, trailing "Barcelona" by 15 points in first place and "Atletico" Madrid by 7 points in second place.
The Portuguese himself recently stated that "Los Blancos" can no longer win the Spanish championship, which angered F. Perez. According to the president, surrender is not a characteristic of "Real" and J. Mourinho should know this. However, the same J. Mourinho repeated it a few days ago.
Since the beginning of the season, the media has repeatedly reported that the Portuguese players (Cristiano Ronaldo, Fabio Coentrao, Ricardo Carvalho, Pepe) and the Brazilian Marcelo, who play in the team, have distanced themselves from the Spanish representatives, there have also been talks about other player "camps". J. Mourinho himself was named as one of the instigators of such division.
In a poll conducted by "Marca" before Christmas, 82.4 percent of more than 100,000 fans answered affirmatively to the question "Should J. Mourinho be fired?"
The latest action that caused a lot of anger among fans was a kind of war with the team captain I. Casillas. Considered the best goalkeeper in the world, "Real" captain was left on the bench in several matches. A similar situation occurred earlier with S. Ramos, while the situation with Kaka in the club remains unresolved for the second year.
Regardless of J. Mourinho's future, it is clear that the Portuguese must lead the "Real" club to the UEFA Champions League final and win "La Decima" - the tenth Champions League trophy for "Real". Otherwise, both media and fan criticism and pressure will only intensify, and it will be even harder for the Portuguese to stay in Madrid.
