Mourinho won't let bashing by Barcelona bother him

A DEFIANT Jose Mourinho brushed off Real Madrid's crushing 5-0 defeat at Barcelona, saying there were plenty of matches left in the season and the championship would still go down to the wire.

The flamboyant Portuguese, a former assistant coach at Barca who later managed Porto, Chelsea and Inter Milan before being poached by Real, suffered his worst defeat in a league match at the hands of the La Liga champions but said it was "by no means a humiliation".

"It's easy to digest because it's a defeat in which there was no chance of winning," he told a news conference at Barca's Nou Camp stadium. "One team played to their potential tonight and the other played very badly," he added. "The championship will be very close to the end."

Mourinho had got off to a flying start in the Spanish capital in his bid to end Barca's two-year reign as domestic champions and restore Real's fortunes in the Champions League.

His expensively-assembled side were undefeated in all competitions before Monday but have now slipped two points behind leaders Barca with 13 of 38 matches played.

Mourinho, who has failed to win at the Nou Camp in six attempts, said the Barca team was "the finished article" and "the result of many years of work" and reiterated that it will take time to mould the Real squad into an effective unit. He urged his players to "show character" and pick themselves up for Saturday's La Liga match at home to Valencia.