Real Madrid's forward Gonzalo Higuain (2nd left) argues with Barcelona's forward David Villa (No.7) during the match. Photo: IC
Spain reacted with outrage Thursday after Barcelona's 3-2 Super Cup win over Real Madrid descended into violent scenes with defeated coach Jose Mourinho jabbing a rival in the eye.
Television images and photos on the front pages showed Mourinho poking his finger into the eye of Barcelona coach Pep Guardiola's assistant Tito Vilanova as players brawled on the field.
"Pito Vilanova? I don't know who this Pito is," Mourinho said after the match.
Television pictures showed the Portuguese coach walking over to Vilanova at the side of the pitch and poking him in the left eye.
Barcelona's Vilanova could then be seen giving a smiling Mourinho a hard slap in the back as he walked away.
Barcelona defender Gerard Pique accused Mourinho of wrecking Spanish football.
"Sincerely, Mourinho is destroying Spanish football. Sometimes they say we Catalans are the guilty ones, but the guilty ones are over there in Madrid," he said after the match.
"Every game cannot finish like that," Pique added.
A Lionel Messi double took the European and Spanish champions Barcelona to a 5-4 aggregate win over bitter rivals Real Madrid in their Super Cup second leg.
Barcelona were far from their best with their players looking rusty and they lacked their usual slick passing, while Real took the game to them.
Messi, though, was the key player as he scored at the end of the first half and again three minutes from the end with French striker Karim Benzema finding the back of the net in between the break.
But the bad feeling between the two sides boiled over at the end of the match, which ran past midnight.
Brazilian Marcelo set off the sparks when he was dismissed for a late challenge on former Arsenal captain Cesc Fabregas, who made his debut toward the end of the game.
In an ensuing brawl on the pitch, Mesut Ozil of Real Madrid and Barcelona's David Villa were also sent off, bringing the red-card total to three.
Fabregas tried to play down the scrap, saying after the match, "It is very competitive football, they are the two greatest clubs in the world, it is a very strong rivalry."
But Guardiola said the violence risked getting out of hand.
"One day someone is going to get hurt and that is what we have to watch out for," he said after match.
The press lashed out.
"Deplorable Madrid, deplorable Mourinho," blared a headline in Barcelona-based sports daily Mundo Deportivo.
"Deplorable Mourinho," said the front page of the daily Sport.
"Mourinho and Guardiola's assistant Tito Vilanova were also deplorable protagonists in the final free-for-all. Mou put his finger in the eye of Pep's No.2 and he replied by slapping the Portuguese on the back," said daily Marca.
