Mourinho in isolation

Real Madrid's training session on Monday morning was a very much a quiet affair. There was also no post-match team talk after the team's victory over Valladolid and not even a crisis meeting to discuss Pepe's comments in the aftermath of José Mourinho's criticism of Iker Casillas. Then at the morning session, the Portuguese coach did not say a single word to his players.

It was the first time in a long while that Real's Valdebebas training complex had been host to such a tense session - lacking in smiles and laughs. The war between some of the players and the coaching staff has been much publicised and several squad members are counting down the remaining days of Mourinho's reign.

The Portuguese coach also failed to speak to his squad after Real's win against Valladolid and was one of the first to leave the Bernabéu at the end of the match.

It may have been possible to see the damage in the images of the closed-door training session. However, the club did not provide information on the session - i.e. which players trained and which ones worked in the gym - and did not provide photos or TV highlights of the session.

The club's filtered approach permitted any added controversy to be avoided due to misinterpretation of images. The hostile setting saw Mourinho, who went home in Rui Faria's car, heckled by a Real fan. Mourinho's assistant then stopped the car and got out to defend his boss.