Andres Iniesta launches attack on Jose Mourinho for dividing Spain team and encouraging real hate between players
Mourinho had a three-year stint in charge of Real Madrid, which ended in June 2013
ANDRES INIESTA has hit out at Jose Mourinho for creating an "unbearable" atmosphere between Barcelona and Real Madrid players during his time in charge at the Bernabeu.
The Manchester United boss has been accused of similar behaviour this season, drawing criticism from club legends such as Paul Scholes and Rio Ferdinand for his treatment of young players in the press.
Jose Mourinho slammed by Rio Ferdinand for questioning young players’ maturity
By JOE MILES
RIO FERDINAND has hit back at Jose Mourinho after he publicly slated four of his players.
The Manchester United boss accused Luke Shaw, Anthony Martial, Marcus Rashford and Jesse Lingard of "lacking maturity" before the draw with Crystal Palace.
But Ferdinand hit back, saying: "When you get the comments where he's hammering four or five of the young players at the club, saying their mentality isn't right, what do you expect?
"Do you expect to have players on your side or do you expect your players to go 'hold on a minute, my manager is hammering me in public again'?
"I just don't think it's right for a football manager to be doing that.
"I don't think you're going to get productivity out of those kind of comments. I don't think it's proactive for the club.
"You don't get positivity doing that publicly and the fans don't like that either."
There were numerous matches between the two La Liga giants which were marred by unsavoury scenes during Mourinho's three-year stint at Madrid.
Perhaps the worst incident came when Mourinho, who was once a translator at Barca under Bobby Robson and Louis Van Gaal, turned violent following a mass brawl between the sides in August 2011.
During a melee in the closing stages of their Supercopa clash he was filmed walking over to the late Tito Vilanova, then Barca assistant boss, and gouged his eye in shocking scenes.
And Barcelona legend Iniesta has laid most of the blame for the increased animosity between the two sides at the Portuguese's doorstep - insisting it has hampered the national team's progress since.
Spain haven't gone past the last 16 of a major tournament since The Special One's departure from Madrid in 2013.
And speaking on La Sexta's Salvados show, the legendary midfielder explained his views saying: "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."
He continued: "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 [Spain] and the teammates."
Iniesta is now plying his trade at Japanese club Vissel Kobe after his 21-year association with the Catalan giants ended in May.