Mourinho blasts refs after Atletico loss, produces 'evidence' of two red cards
Jose Mourinho walked into the post-match press conference with a sheet of paper in his hand. On it were images of two first-half challenges involving Atletico Madrid players. For the Real Madrid coach, they told the story of a derby his team had just lost 2-1.
"We could skip the press conference because the story of the match is right here," Mourinho said, holding up the images. "Those were two clear red cards."
It was classic Mourinho. Rather than start with Atletico's win or Real Madrid's performance, he went straight for the officials. He was furious that Cristian Romero was not sent off for a stamp on Jude Bellingham and that Lee Kang-in escaped a red card for his challenge on Federico Valverde.Jose Mourinho began his press conference with pictures of two fouls committed by Atleti players that he says should have been red cards. pic.twitter.com/JfP6tn1SECβ ESPN FC (@ESPNFC) September 20, 2026
Mourinho's argument was simple: had both Atletico players been sent off, Real Madrid would have had 50 minutes against nine men. Instead, his own side eventually found themselves down to 10.
"The difficulties we've faced since the sending-off. 11 against 10. Well, we can imagine what 50 minutes of 11 against 9 would have been like if justice had been done," he said.
The turning point came five minutes after half-time when Real Madrid defender Dean Huijsen was sent off for bringing down Giuliano Simeone inside the area as the last defender. Alejandro Grimaldo converted the penalty to put Atletico ahead, and Jonathan David doubled the lead six minutes later. Antonio Rudiger gave Real Madrid a lifeline with a late header, but Atletico held on to take the points and move above their city rivals in the table.
Mourinho, though, had little criticism for his players. He said they had shown enough quality and character, particularly before Huijsen's dismissal, and praised them for continuing to fight despite being a man down.
"I have to limit myself to hugging my players, who gave everything," he said. "They played a first half of great quality, of great personality."
Then came the broader attack on the officials.
Mourinho questioned the decision to appoint Miguel Angel Ortiz Arias, pointing out that the 41-year-old referee has no international status. He suggested the occasion had proved too big for the official and claimed the pressure inside the Metropolitano was something he associated with Spanish football of the 1980s.
"They've put a referee, aged 41, with no international experience - it's certainly not because he's a great referee," Mourinho said. "Then the poor chap has come here and hasn't been able to cope with the pressure - and it really is intense pressure. I call it '80s-style pressure' here in this stadium, which you hardly ever see these days."
Mourinho also turned his attention to VAR official Daniel Jesus Trujillo. He questioned why Trujillo had intervened in one of the incidents but, in his view, failed to do the same for the other.
"This combination... a referee, poor referee, who has only done tiny little matches, and a VAR official with a big history... well, congratulations to the referee appointment committee," he said.
Interestingly, Mourinho did not pretend to have all the answers when asked about Huijsen's dismissal. He admitted he had not watched the incident back on his iPad and did not want to make a firm judgement on whether the foul had started inside or outside the area.
"I still have not seen it. And it was very far away to have a judgement. I don't know," he said.
The defeat leaves Real Madrid six points behind leaders Barcelona, but Mourinho insisted the title race is far from over. His frustration, however, was clear as he called for his team to be allowed to compete on what he described as a level playing field.
"If they just leave us in peace and let us compete on a level playing field with everyone else, we've still got a long way to go," Mourinho said.
He stopped short of suggesting that the refereeing decisions were deliberate, saying he wanted to believe they were simply mistakes.
"I don't want to go so far as to say this was set up. I want to believe that they simply made a mistake."
Atletico coach Diego Simeone was asked about Mourinho's comments after the match and chose not to get drawn into another refereeing debate. Instead, he urged coaches to be careful about what they say.
"Whoever is speaking - be it me, Mourinho, Hansi Flick or Manuel Pellegrini, anyone - we have to be careful what we say," Simeone said. "When you step outside the bounds of respect, whoever you are, it's not on. You can't cross that line."
Atletico's victory took them to 16 points, five behind Barcelona and one ahead of both Real Madrid and Real Betis.- EndsPublished By: Saurabh KumarPublished On: Sep 20, 2026 23:29 IST
