Mourinho’s flexible tactics back in focus after Real Madrid beat Barcelona

Real Madrid’s 2-1 win over Barcelona has renewed attention on José Mourinho’s tactical approach, with a BBC Sport analysis arguing that his flexible, player-led methods can be overlooked beside more structured styles of play.

Mourinho set Madrid up in a 4-4-2 for the match, with Federico Valverde at right-back and Bernardo Silva in midfield tasked with tracking Barcelona’s Pedri. Madrid drew Barcelona’s press towards the ball, then looked to exploit space on the far side. The winning goal followed a move in which Jude Bellingham escaped pressure, Eduardo Camavinga passed wide and then ran behind Barcelona’s high defensive line before crossing for Kylian Mbappé.

The BBC’s football tactics correspondent, Umir Irfan, says the match showed how Mourinho adapts his tactics to the players and club at hand, rather than relying on a fixed system. That flexibility, Irfan argues, can make Mourinho’s work harder to analyse than approaches built around set positions and repeated patterns.

The article links Mourinho’s thinking to tactical periodisation, a coaching philosophy associated with Vitor Frade that treats the technical, tactical, physical and psychological elements of football as interconnected. Its proponents aim to prepare players to respond to changing situations in a match, rather than simply follow pre-set solutions.

Mourinho’s career includes major trophies with Porto, Chelsea, Inter Milan and Real Madrid. But his recent record has been more modest: the BBC says his only trophy between Manchester United’s 2017 League Cup and Europa League wins and his 2022 Conference League triumph with Roma was that Roma title.

The analysis suggests the rise of man-to-man pressing may make matches less predictable, potentially suiting coaches who prepare players to solve problems as they arise. It presents Mourinho’s Madrid win over Barcelona as an example of that approach, rather than proof that his methods will work in every game.