Jose Mourinho launched a furious attack on the refereeing after Real Madrid’s 2-1 defeat by Atletico Madrid, holding up images of first-half tackles he claimed should have resulted in red cards.
Real Madrid were angry that Atletico defender Cristian Romero was not dismissed for a stamp on Jude Bellingham. They also objected to Lee Kang-in’s challenge on Federico Valverde in a heated La Liga derby at the Metropolitano on Sunday.
Valverde completed the match but was later diagnosed with “severe trauma to his left ankle”, Real said, adding that the midfielder would undergo further tests.
“We could skip the press conference because the story of the match is right here,” Mourinho said as he displayed the images.
“Those were two clear red cards. The difficulties we’ve faced since the sending-off: 11 against 10. Well, we can imagine what 50 minutes of 11 against nine would have been like if justice had been done.”
Real were reduced to 10 men five minutes after half-time when Dean Huijsen was sent off for bringing down Giuliano Simeone inside the area as the last defender. Alejandro Grimaldo converted the resulting penalty before Jonathan David doubled Atletico’s lead six minutes later, while Antonio Ruediger headed in a late free-kick to give Real hope.
Mourinho reserved further criticism for referee Miguel Angel Ortiz Arias and those who appointed him.
“They’ve put a referee, aged 41, with no international experience – it’s certainly not because he’s a great referee,” he 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.”
Asked about Real Madrid falling six points behind Barcelona, Mourinho said his team needed to be allowed to compete on an equal footing.
“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,” he said. “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 manager Diego Simeone urged caution in response to Mourinho’s remarks, saying managers had to remain within the bounds of respect.
“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.”
Simeone instead praised Atletico’s display, saying his side had controlled the contest both before and after Real were reduced to 10 men.
Atletico moved above Real into second place with 16 points, five behind leaders Barcelona and one ahead of Real and Real Betis.
