Jose Mourinho - We think it, he does it

He's a wily one, that Jose Mourinho. The Real Madrid manager has built his reputation on thinking outside the box, approaching the game from an angle few others would consider.

While most other bosses feel resigned to doing little more than ranting and hollering impotently in their technical area, the Portuguese coach is always thinking up ways he can have an extra effect on proceedings from his dugout beyond his three allotted substitutions.

Mourinho, like many of his counterparts, loves a bit of 'mind games' from the safety of the press conference, but he'll just as gleefully get his hands dirty during a match too.

He's not averse to grabbing and holding on to the ball for a little too long when it goes out of play just to deny the other team a quick throw-in, and once got Francesco Toldo to remonstrate so vehemently at the officials over a perceived injustice that Inter reserve keeper got his marching orders from the dugout, just to eat up a few valuable seconds and spoil the opposition's momentum.

But Mourinho has now been accused of taking his cheeky tactics to a whole new level after appearing to instruct Xabi Alonso and Sergio Ramos to get sent off during the 4-0 win at Ajax on Tuesday.

Both players were one yellow card away from suspension, but their shameless time wasting earned them second bookings which will see them miss their final group match - having already qualified for the knockout phase - and wipe their disciplinary slates clean in time for the last 16.

Mourinho once again enlisted the help of his reserve keeper, this time Jerzy Dudek. The pair were caught on camera muttering away with hands over mouths on the sidelines, before Dudek relayed a message to Ramos via Iker Casillas.

Real were as smugly indignant as their manager in their statement responding to the news, saying: "Real Madrid expresses its surprise at this decision on the understanding that it does not conform with UEFA's disciplinary rules".

No denial, no contrition, just a goading 'catch us if you can'. Los Merengues and their manager really were made for each other.

Alonso and Ramos's expulsions were met with little surprise in Spain, where the practice is simply put down to 'good housekeeping', a victimless crime. UEFA don't see it that way, though.

Real host Auxerre on the final matchday in Group G, and they are still fighting it out for a Europa League place with Ajax. The French side may be bottom of their group, but their cause will be seen to be greatly helped, and Ajax's hindered, by them not having to contend with two of the best players in the world in their respective positions when they visit the Bernabeu.

It's the old 'playing your strongest side' argument, a stick so often used to beat smaller clubs with.

But would Real have played their top men for this match anyway? They are already confirmed as group winners, and Milan will join them in the next round as runners-up. Why would they bother bringing out the big guns?

Someone who knows all about fielding weakened sides in cup competitions is Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger, and the moral guardian of the beautiful game was scathing of Mourinho's underhand tactics.

He said: "You never say it doesn't cross your mind but when you see how it looks on television it is the best demonstration to think 'never do that again'.

"It looks, frankly, horrible. It's a pity to see that from a big club."

Of course, you rarely see such practices from a small club because they are more likely to be battling for their place in the last round come the final group game than the richest sides in Europe, but Wenger is right - it is not something that anyone who paid to watch the game would have appreciated.

But, then again, since when did that matter? The whole concept of the league structure is built around having more matches to broadcast, even if that means there will be plenty of games which are little more than an inconvenience to at least one of the sides.

As long as the current format remains, it will be impossible to avoid clubs fielding half the youth team once they have qualified with one or even two games to spare. Mourinho's meddling is worthy of reprimand, but it has served to highlight that fact.