Boos For Mourinho, Cheers For Casillas

[Folami David]

Real Madrid fans appeared to give their backing to Iker Casillas over Jose Mourinho on Saturday when they cheered their benched goalkeeper and captain and whistled the Portuguese coach before the 4-3 win at home to Real Valladolid in La Liga.
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A hero to Real fans and club captain for more than a decade, Casillas has barely featured since recovering from a broken hand, with Mourinho preferring to stick with Diego Lopez, who was brought in as cover from Sevilla in January.
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Mourinho has hinted he may leave at the end of the season and he appeared to confirm reports his relationship with Casillas had broken down with a series of barbed comments in a news conference on Friday.
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He said he regretted not buying Lopez earlier in his three-year stint in the Spanish capital and that he could not work with players who "think they are above the rest".
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Fans at the Bernabeu on Saturday made their feelings clear when Casillas's name was roundly cheered when it was read out among the list of substitutes, while Mourinho was whistled by a significant section of the crowd.
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The sense that all is not well at the club following Tuesday's elimination from the Champions League was heightened after the game when Pepe, Mourinho's Portuguese compatriot, criticised the coach in a television interview.
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Pepe's comments were particularly surprising given that he and Mourinho share the same agent.
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"In my opinion, maybe the coach's words (on Friday) were not entirely appropriate," he told broadcaster Canal Plus.
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"We have to show a bit more respect for Iker," he added.
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"Iker is a player who is part of Madrid, he is an institution. In this club and in Spain. He has to know that we the players are with him."