All is not well at Real Madrid

What a difference a few days - along with, more importantly, a positive performance - make.

Until Wednesday, all was doom and gloom in the camp of Real Madrid after a 2-1 home loss at the hands of archrival Barcelona in the first leg of the Copa del Rey. Coach Jose Mourinho was under fire and at his pouting best as the teams prepared to tangle last Wednesday in the second leg.

Lo and behold, all was sweetness and light, even though Barcelona scraped through on aggregate after barely holding on for a 2-2 draw in the second game and a 4-3 aggregate victory.

Except, perhaps, in the mind of Mourinho, who suggested his players felt "it was impossible to win" at Barcelona. But that might have been a dig at referee Teixeira Vitienes, who sent off Real's Sergio Ramos for a second yellow card with a couple of minutes remaining to end any Madrid hopes.

Ah, yes, Ramos. The long-haired Spanish international fullback provided the evidence that all is not sweetness and light in the Real dressing room after the newspaper Marca reproduced, word-for-word, a confrontation between him, goalkeeper Iker Casillas and Mourinho.

That came after Ramos suggested Real had lost the first leg because of poor tactics.

"We follow the coach's tactics," Ramos said after the game. "Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't."

A couple of days later, on the practice field, Marca reported the following conversation:

Mourinho to Ramos: "You killed me in the mixed zone" (where reporters interview players).

Ramos: "No, mister, you only read what it says in the papers, not everything we said."

Mourinho: "Sure, because you Spaniards have been world champions and your friends in the media protect you . and because the goalkeeper ."

At that point there is a shout from Casillas, 30 metres away: "Eh, mister, round here you say things to our faces, eh."

Mourinho: "Where were you on the first goal (by Barcelona in game one), Sergio?"

Ramos: "Marking (Barcelona's Gerard) Piqué."

Mourinho: "Well, you should have been marking (Barcelona's Carles) Puyol," (who scored on the play).

Ramos: "Yes, but they were blocking us off with Piqué and we decided to change the marking."

Mourinho: "What? So now you're playing at being coach?"

Ramos: "No, but depending on the situation in the game, sometimes you have to change the marking. Because you've never been a player, you don't know that that sometimes happens."

Ouch.

There was a change in tune after the second leg, which saw Real abandon its defensive style and attack Barcelona. Real gave up a pair of goals in the first half after dominating, but came back to tie 2-2 and could have won.

Sergio Ramos said he was "super proud" of his team. They had been, he said, "very superior."

"We leave with the feeling that today we have stood up to them," Casillas said. "We feel like we played well and that we deserved much more. We played well. We gave them hardly any opportunities and we depart proud and happy of our team. This is the way we have to carry on. Playing like this, we can achieve a lot."

Casillas also admitted that he had confronted the referee in the tunnel, telling him: "Now go and party with Barcelona."

It was, Casillas said, a moment of madness, quickly forgotten. Alvaro Arbeloa did not forget so fast.

"We got as far as they would let us," he said.

At Barcelona's El Prat airport, Madrid fans chanted: "Hands up! This is a robbery," as they waited for their team.

Refereeing can be a shield for underachieving teams to hide behind, but it wasn't necessary for Real to hide.

"Barcelona went through, Madrid came back," said the Madrid sports newspaper AS, while Marca's headlines said: "They had it . Barcelona knock out a Madrid side that were, for the first time, very much the better team."

On the night, yes. But what will the future hold? There is increasing discontent among the Madrid fans at Mourinho's inability to get a win over Barcelona (one in 11/2 seasons at Real) and persistent reports the Portuguese manager is unhappy.

Still, the team is playing well in the Champions League and leading the Spanish league.

Win those and, once again, all will be forgiven.