Jose Mourinho accused the referee and VAR of failing to control Sunday’s Madrid derby after Real Madrid suffered a 2-1 defeat to Atletico Madrid.
The former Real Madrid manager arrived at his post-match press conference with printed photographs of two controversial challenges, arguing that Atletico should have finished the game with nine players.
The biggest decision came in the 52nd minute when Dean Huijsen was shown a straight red card for a last-man foul on Giuliano Simeone. Atletico converted the resulting penalty through Alejandro Grimaldo before Jonathan David added a second goal.
Antonio Rudiger scored late for Real Madrid, but Carlo Ancelotti’s side could not find an equaliser after being reduced to 10 men.
Madrid struggled to create clear chances throughout the derby and finished with just 0.32 expected goals (xG), their lowest total in a LaLiga match since February 2015, when they recorded 0.2 against Atletico.
Mourinho, however, believed the match should have taken a completely different direction because of two other incidents.
The first involved Lee Kang-In and Federico Valverde, with the Atletico player avoiding a red card following a late challenge. Tensions then spilled over at half-time, with Rudiger and Morten Hjulmand involved in a confrontation in the tunnel.
Cristian Romero was also booked after appearing to tread on Jude Bellingham’s knee.
Mourinho used photographs of both incidents during his press conference to explain his frustration with the officiating.
“The story of the game is here,” Mourinho said while holding up the images.
“They’re two clear red cards. With the difficulties we had afterwards – with 11 versus 10, you could imagine what it would have been like for us for 50 minutes with 11 versus nine.”
The Portuguese coach also criticised referee Ortiz Arias and questioned the decision to appoint him for such an important fixture.
“It’s the CTA [the referee’s committee]. It’s all been very strange. It’s a referee [Ortiz Arias] who, at 41, doesn’t have international experience. I don’t know why he was the referee,” Mourinho added.
“The poor guy came here and couldn’t cope with the pressure.”
Real Madrid later confirmed that Valverde had suffered severe trauma to his left ankle during the match, with further medical tests scheduled to determine the extent of the injury.
Mourinho admitted he had not watched replays of Huijsen’s red card but still raised concerns about several recent decisions involving Atletico and Barcelona.
“The penalty at Real Sociedad [for Atletico] was laughable,” he said. “The penalty for Barcelona was laughable, and the non-sending off, against Athletic Club. So many things together…”
Real Madrid also released a club statement after the derby, condemning the referee’s performance.
The defeat left Madrid fourth in LaLiga, six points behind leaders Barcelona after seven matches. They had suffered two defeats, while Barcelona had maintained a perfect league record.
Asked whether Madrid could still compete for the title, Mourinho called for the team to be allowed to compete on what he described as an even playing field.
“If ‘they’ leave us in peace and let us compete on an even playing field, there’s a long way left,” he said.
Mourinho stopped short of claiming that the refereeing decisions were deliberate, saying he preferred to believe the officials had simply made mistakes.
“I don’t want to say this was prepared. I want to think they’re mistakes, like a coach makes mistakes,” he added.
“I want to think the CTA made a mistake and picked a referee of 41, who’s never been in this situation. They made a mistake; that’s all.”
Real Madrid will now have to assess Valverde’s injury and regroup during the international break before attempting to close the gap on Barcelona when LaLiga action resumes.
