Levante's return to the 'Primera División' coincided with Mourinho's arrival to the Madrid dugout. And something has changed in clashes between the two teams over these three years.
During Mou's first visit to Levante as Madrid manager, his team only managed a no-score draw, and after the game the Portuguese accused the Levante players of play-acting: "It seemed that ten of Levante's players were going to end up in hospital. I'm happy it didn't turn out that way though", he said ironically.
Levante's game plan stopped working in Madrid though, when the side from the capital used a cup game as an opportunity to get revenge, converting its rage into an eight goal drubbing.
After the 8-0, several Levante players complained of the humiliation they suffered at the hands of some Madrid players. "Don't touch my shirt or you'll get it dirty", Di Maria reportedly told a Levante player when the scoreline was 6-0.
"They were chanting that we should be relegated when the sixth, seventh and eighth goals went in... And they were celebrating wildly," pointed out Luis García, who was the Levante coach at the time.
The rivalry continued to grow when Levante beat Real Madrid in the league last season. "I need to congratulate them for being smart. They know how to provoke, dive, hold on to the ball and waste time, and that's all part of football too", said Mourinho.
And after Cristiano finding himself on the end of Navarro's elbow last Sunday, the lay of the land couldn't be any clearer...
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