WATCH: Über-cool Pep at last blows his lid in Madrid

Barcelona coach reacts to Jose Mourinho’s needling in pre-Clasico press conference. Tonight’s gonna be amazing.

WE ALREADY MENTIONED it in our Study Guide to tonight’s Real Madrid v Barcelona super-clasico, but it’s worth repeating.

The urbane, usually-unflappable Barcelona coach Pep Guardiola finally left his frustration with Jose Mourinho vent last night.

The Barca boss was speaking to the world’s press in the bowels of the Bernabeu ahead of the Champions League, semi-final first leg.

“As Mourinho has spoken so candidly about me and spoken about me by name, and using tú [the informal form of you], then I will do the same,” he said initially.

Then, according to Sid Lowe, he asked which of the gathered cameras was “Mourinho’s camera” and began.

“Tomorrow at 8.45 we will play a match on the field. Outside of the field, he has won the entire year, the entire season and in the future [it will be the same]. He can have his personal Champions League outside the field.

“Fine. Let him enjoy it, I’ll give him that. But this is a game. When it comes to sport we will play and sometimes we will win, sometimes we will lose. We are happy with smaller victories, trying to get the world to admire us and we are very proud of this.

“I can give you an immense list of things [that we could complain about]: 300,000 things. We could remember Stamford Bridge and another thousand things but I do not have that many people working for me. Secretaries and referees and people writing stuff.

“So tomorrow, 8.45pm, we will take to the field and we will try to play football as best as possible.

“In this room [Real Madrid's press room], he is the chief, the f****** man. In here he is the fucking man and I can’t compete with him.

“If Barcelona want someone who competes with that, then they should look for another manager. But we, as a person and an institution, don’t do that. I could talk about [Olegario] Bequerença [the referee from last season's Barcelona-Inter semi-final first leg], about the offside goal from Diego Milito or the penalty of [Dani] Alves, but I don’t. Well, until tonight!

“If you think after three years, that I always moan, always make excuses and always complain, then there is nothing I can do about that,” he added.

Here’s the footage with an English-language voiceover

Or this YouTube clip which is supposed ti have subtitles:

Mourinho provoked his counterpart by referring to comments his rival made after Madrid’s victory in the Copa del Rey final last week.

According to the Guardian “Guardiola had noted that his side had been close to winning: had a Pedro goal not been ruled out for a very close but correct offside, described by the coach as “the linesman’s good eyesight”, Barcelona might have taken the trophy.”

“A new era has begun,” Mourinho said yesterday. “Until now there were two groups of coaches. One very, very small group of coaches that don’t speak about refs and then a big group of coaches, of which I am part, who criticise the refs when they have mistakes – people like me who don’t control their frustration but also people who are happy to value a great job from a ref.

“Now there is a third group, which is only [Guardiola], that criticises referees when they get decisions right!”

Madrid-based newspaper AS report that Guardiola received a standing ovation from his staff and players when he returned to the team hotel.