This is hardly surprising is it? Andreas Iniesta has claimed that Jose Morinho caused massive tension amongst members of the Spanish national team during his time in charge of Real Madrid.
The Portuguese was manager of Los Blancos from 2010-2013, a period when tensions often ran high between Spain's two biggest clubs.
With the national team at the peak of it powers after successive tournament wins at Euro 2008 and the 2010 World Cup, many would have assumed that the animosity between players at club level did not have an impact when they were on international duty. However, Andreas Iniesta said that this was not the case.
Speaking on the La Sexta's Salvados show (via Marca), he claims that Mourinho's presence at the Santiago Bernabeu resulted in the relationship between players of the two clubs becoming strained.
You don't have to be for Barcelona or Real Madrid to know that the situation was unpleasant. And the key component in that story was Mourinho.
Whoever doesn't want to see that, is radical. You didn't see the rivalry that always existed before, it went beyond that, you saw hate. That atmosphere developed and it was unbearable.
The Barca-Madrid tension caused by Mourinho did much damage to the national team and the teammates.
This revelation is hardly the most surprising, with Mourinho a highly divisive character in the world of football. He was involved in a number of unsavoury incidents during El Clasico matches, famously poking Barcelona assistant manager Tito Vilanova in the eye during a sideline brawl.
His character has hardly softened in the intervening years, although the battles he picks have shifted somewhat.
Mourinho's time at Manchester United has been fraught with clashes with the media and his own players. While there was a time at previous clubs when he was revered by members of his squad, things seem to have gone the other way at Old Trafford.
With the repeated public criticisms directed at his own team, one would assume that Manchester United long for the days when the opposition was the focus of Mourinho's attentions.
