Explosive comments by Spain coach Vicente del Bosque that Iker Casillas was dropped by Jose Mourinho last season because he attempted to ease tensions between the Spain internationals that play for Real Madrid and Barcelona.
As games between Real and Barcelona intensified in bitterness, there were concerns in Spain that the relationship between Real’s Spain internationals, including Casillas, Alvaro Arbeloa, Sergio Ramos and Xabi Alonso would be frayed beyond repair with Barca stars such as Xavi, Iniesta, David Villa and Carles Puyol.
“It’s true that in difficult moments for the national team, when the Real-Barca matches got a little strange, he helped the team to move on and continue winning things like the European Championship [in 2012],” the Spain coach told the Onda Cero radio station.
“This did not go down well, and perhaps had a detrimental effect also on Iker. He was a key figure in fostering harmony in the national team.”
In order to defuse the tension between the two camps, Casillas held talks with Xavi and Puyol, something that Mourinho did not like.
The one problem with this theory is that Madrid changed coaches this summer and Carlo Ancelotti has validated Mourinho’s decision to drop Casillas as he has also kept the Spanish captain on the bench.