Barcelona defender Gerard Pique has defended underfire Real Madrid coach Jose Mourinho, pointing the finger at the local press for targeting him. Pique branded the Madrid media hypocrites for their coverage of Mourinho.

"It's funny because I remember that when Madrid won, Mou was permitted to do anything. He came here and he stuck his finger in the eye of Tito. How many matches was he banned? Zero.

"Now that Iker (Casillas) is dropped, Mourinho, now by the journalists, is criticized. Mourinho has always been like this.

"Since arriving, he has always been the same. He was allowed everything. I do not think the press has to be like this. And I say this not only for Real Madrid, but Barcelona also.

"Barca does not do everything well. On the covers of El Mundo Deportivo and Sport it seems we do everything right. They start doing criticising when things wrong. I speak from both sides. For Madrid and Barcelona."