Eduardo Camavinga’s late intervention at the Camp Nou tightened Real Madrid’s title race, cutting their deficit behind Barcelona to three points after the visitors had threatened to build a nine-point lead following 10 LaLiga matches, according to the report.
Camavinga came on in the 80th minute for Bernardo Silva and, within seven minutes, collected Arda Güler’s pass and set up Kylian Mbappé for the winning goal. The victory marked Jose Mourinho’s 13th match in his second spell at the club, and it was the 13th occasion this season that Madrid have scored in the final 10 minutes, the report notes.
It was also the 13th time a Real substitute has supplied a goal or an assist this term. That total would have been higher but for Carlos Espí’s overhead kick at Real Betis being ruled out for a prior offside and for Vinícius Júnior’s finish against Villarreal being disallowed because of an incident involving Nathan Saliba, the source adds.
The productivity from the bench underscores the squad’s depth and has been framed as a reflection on Madrid’s fitness and medical staff and the players’ hunger, according to the report. Mourinho has received praise for his substitutions and for reading the late stages of a tied match; he explained that Aurélien Tchouaméni was asked to hold his defensive position so Camavinga could make forward runs to beat Barcelona’s offside trap. Mourinho also pointed out that Camavinga had been exceptional against Leipzig but had begun the Clásico on the bench.
That praise comes after an early season in which Mourinho was described as hesitant to use his bench and slow to react in matches. The report contrasts those criticisms with the Camp Nou outcome, saying his 13-match assessment has shifted from “flawed” to “fabulous.” The win also ended Barcelona’s run of 19 consecutive LaLiga victories at the reopened Camp Nou and was their first league defeat there since May 2023. Earlier in the campaign, Mourinho used only two of five substitutions by the 80th minute in a 1-1 draw with Espanyol before bringing on Espí, who later scored a 90th-minute winner, the source recalls.
