José Mourinho is not going to apologise for his behaviour during the ugly scenes which marred Real Madrid's meeting with Barcelona in the Spanish Super Cup.
Eladio Parames, Mourinho's spokesman, told the Spanish newspaper El Mundo that "José will not ask for forgiveness. He firmly believes that he was defending the interests of Real Madrid".
The Madrid manager poked a finger in the eye of the Barcelona assistant coach Tito Vilanova after a wild tackle by the Madrid defender Marcelo on Cesc Fábregas sparked a scuffle between the sides at the Camp Nou last Wednesday. Marcelo's was one of three red cards.
Mourinho was also seen making inappropriate gestures toward Barcelona's Lionel Messi and Dani Alves. He made a derogatory remark about Vilanova after the match and accused Barcelona's ballboys of time wasting, saying the tactic was something a "small-time" club would do. Barcelona won the second leg 3-2 for a 5-4 aggregate victory.
Mourinho has not been swayed by criticism in the foreign and local media. "He [Mourinho] doesn't care what the press says, he only cares about what Madrid's fans think," Parames said.
Last season, Madrid and Barcelona played four matches in 18 days in April which were characterised by fights, diving and accusations of feigned injuries. That led to Mourinho being banned for five matches for alleging that referees and Uefa favoured Barcelona.
Neither club played this weekend after La Liga was postponed due to a strike by players seeking a collective bargaining deal with improved salary guarantees.
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