Jose Mourinho arrived at his post-match news conference carrying a single A4 sheet of printed paper, holding up screenshots of two incidents he believed should have ended in Atletico Madrid dismissals during Real Madrid’s 2-1 derby defeat.
The Real Madrid manager accused the officials of key errors, arguing the hosts should have been reduced to nine men in the first half at the Metropolitano. Rather than take questions in the usual way, he let the images carry his argument.
“We can skip the press conference because the story of the match is right here,” Mourinho said as he showed the printouts to the media. “Those were two clear red cards. Given the difficulties we faced afterwards playing 11 against 10, we can only imagine what 50 minutes of 11 against nine would have been like. So I’ll just have to limit myself to hugging my players, who gave it their all and played a first half, showed great class and character, setting us up perfectly to win the second half.”
The result was Real Madrid’s second defeat of the season, following a 1-0 loss to Real Betis earlier in September.
Mourinho pointed to two first-half moments. The first, in the 37th minute, involved Real’s Jude Bellingham and Atletico’s Cristian Romero as the two challenged for a loose ball, a clash that ended with Bellingham being shown a yellow card. At the time, Mourinho pleaded with the referee to send off the Argentina international for dangerous foul play, with replays showing Romero making contact with his studs on Bellingham’s knee. Bellingham’s yellow card was retracted after a video assistant referee review, and Romero was given a yellow. The second incident was a challenge by Atletico’s Lee Kang-in on Fede Valverde, which Mourinho believed should have been a straight red card.
The Portuguese also questioned the appointment of the match officials, saying he wanted to believe the decisions were mistakes rather than deliberate. “I want to believe they are simply mistakes, just as a coach makes mistakes, just as a player makes mistakes,” he said.
Despite the defeat, Mourinho said he had no complaints about his players’ commitment and praised their performance, particularly in the first half. “I liked my team as a unit. Even in the first half I really liked them, and in the second half it was obviously very difficult to get the ball and to stop Atleti’s possession. I liked their pride, I liked their determination, and it’s a good feeling for me to not be disappointed in my players.” He also addressed the dismissal of Dean Huijsen, which awarded Atletico a penalty, admitting he had not yet watched the VAR replay.
Diego Simeone, by contrast, was ecstatic with the result. Asked to respond to Mourinho’s refereeing rant, the Atletico manager said he was always respectful of everyone else’s opinions. “I understand that we’re in a privileged position with a lot of public scrutiny, as coaches, and whether it’s Mourinho, [Hansi] Flick, [Manuel] Pellegrini, me, or anyone else, we need to be careful about what we say,” he said. “We have to know how to respect others, the referees, our colleagues and we all lose out. And when someone crosses that line of respect, it’s not right – you can’t cross that line.”
Simeone rejected the suggestion that the result would be overshadowed by the refereeing debate, saying his side had controlled the contest. “The match I watched was an intense one, where I think we controlled it at all times,” he said. “We faced an opponent with incredible transitions and extraordinary players who obviously play for their team and do so very well. We controlled almost all the transitions they could have had.” He also praised his players’ defensive organisation and collective effort against a Real Madrid side featuring several dangerous attacking players, adding: “I think we controlled the match at all times, through our teamwork, our defence, our collective effort, our group dynamics, and our play. Looking for where we could hurt them, which we knew was on the right side.”
The defeat leaves Real Madrid fourth in the league standings, with Atletico second, five points behind league leaders Barcelona. Mourinho, though, was keen to stress there was still a long way to go in the season. “Under normal circumstances, it’s not about how it starts, it’s about how it ends,” he said.
La Liga will resume on Friday 9 October following the international break.