Mourinho knocks Pep off his perch

Real Madrid didn't think they'd have to wait another four years as Barcelona formed the guard of honour to welcome them as champions of Spain, onto the rain lashed Bernabéu pitch. It was May 2008 and Madrid were feted by their main rivals before destroying Barça 4-1. The Catalans looked shot
, their coach Frank Rijkaard a forlorn figure after the game.
The travelling media didn't grill him because they knew he was dead man walking. Instead, they felt sympathy for him. Rijkaard was not a bad coach, he'd been a great leader who delivered consecutive league titles and a second European Cup to Camp Nou. Everyone would remember the smoking Dutchman who looked more like an Ibiza DJ fondly, but his time was up. The fuse burns quickly in Spanish football management.
Outside the stadium, 80,000 delirious Madridistas spilled onto the Paseo de la Castellana (formerly the Avenida del Generalísimo Franco), a wide, leafy thoroughfare lined by skyscrapers in the heart of commercial Madrid, and headed towards the Cibeles fountain, the place where Real Madrid celebrate trophies.
Back in Barcelona, rookie coach Pep Guardiola replaced Rijkaard. The appointment, by a president (Joan Laporta) whose name, rather pathetically, is not allowed to be muttered by current Barça staff, was a masterstroke. Guardiola won three consecutive titles, two European Cups and more, much more, as Madrid were overshadowed in their own kingdom.