Real Madrid assistant Aitor Karanka offered few hints of when coach Jose Mourinho may address local media again this season after the Portuguese coach missed his 45th news conference since taking over the Spanish club in 2010.
''Mourinho will speak when he has to speak,'' Karanka said on Friday. ''Some moments he comes out and others I come out, that's his way of working, that's the way it is.''
Mourinho chose to stop speaking to the media following a recent run of draws that saw the Spanish leader's 10-point lead over Barcelona trimmed to four. Under Champions League regulations, he has to speak ahead of Tuesday's match at Bayern Munich.
Madrid next plays Sporting Gijon, whose coach Javier Clemente is also refusing to address Spanish media before Saturday's game following a number of spats with local media that turned some of his news conferences into shouting contests. Sporting is second bottom and seven points from safety with six games to play.
Barcelona coach Pep Guardiola took a lighter tone when asked his opinion of his peers refusing to talk with local media.
''I wish you guys would ask me for this. We see each other here every three days and always the same faces,'' Guardiola joked on Friday. ''They are from other teams who have different ideas so I'm not sure I'm the one to comment on it.''
