Spain - Real Madrid coach Jose Mourinho says his team's Spanish Super Cup clash with Barcelona on Wednesday will be a psychological litmus test after their shock defeat to Getafe.
The Portuguese self-anointed "Special One" wants to know if Real's "unacceptable" attitude in their 2-1 defeat at derby rivals Getafe on Sunday was just a one-off, or a bigger problem.
Real Madrid fell to a 3-2 first leg defeat at their Catalan rivals' Camp Nou home on August 24, but Mourinho said he would be happy if his squad put in a similar show in the return leg at the Bernabeu.
What he doesn't want is a repeat of the Getafe performance.
"Winning the Super Cup or not winning the Super Cup, beating Barca or not beating Barca, none of that is important to me at the moment," Mourinho told a news conference.
"To me the fundamental thing tomorrow is to know what players I have, what individual and collective psychological profile I have, and whether the situation against Getafe was a chance situation or whether tomorrow we are going to repeat exactly the same type of team pschological profile," the coach said.
Mourinho said Real played a "good game against an obviously very difficult oppponent" in their first leg against Barcelona.
But the Getafe match was "unacceptable in every aspect, motivation aspect, the concentration aspect, the ambition aspect, the tactical aspect if you like, the practical aspect."
The Real coach said previous clashes with Barcelona showed that the first leg can be overturned.
"Between two big clubs, lots of good players, I would say the best players together, anything can happen, so everything is open," Mourinho said.
- Sapa / AFP