José Mourinho has blamed controversial refereeing decisions for Real Madrid’s 2–1 defeat to Atlético Madrid in Sunday’s Madrid derby.
Mourinho argued that Atlético should have had two players sent off for challenges involving Jude Bellingham and Federico Valverde before Real Madrid were reduced to 10 men following Dean Huijsen’s dismissal.
The defeat saw Atlético move above Real Madrid in the La Liga table, leaving Mourinho’s side third on 15 points, one behind their city rivals.
Mourinho made refereeing the main focus of his post-match press conference, even bringing printed photographs of two Atlético challenges he believed warranted red cards.
“We could skip the press conference because the story of the match is right here. Those were two clear red cards,” Mourinho said while holding up the photographs.
He then compared the incidents with Huijsen’s dismissal.
“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.
Mourinho first pointed to Atlético defender Cristian Romero’s challenge on Bellingham, arguing that contact with the midfielder’s knee should have resulted in a red card.
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The referee reviewed the incident through VAR but decided against sending off Romero.
Mourinho also highlighted Lee Kang-in’s challenge on Valverde, which he described as another clear red-card offence.
Valverde played on, but Real Madrid later reported that the midfielder had suffered severe trauma to his left ankle and would undergo further medical tests.
The Real Madrid manager also criticised 41-year-old referee Miguel Ángel Ortiz Arias, questioning his appointment and lack of international experience.
“They’ve put a referee, aged 41, with no international experience, it’s certainly not because he’s a great referee,” Mourinho said.
He added: “The poor chap has come here and hasn’t been able to cope with the pressure, and it really is intense pressure.”
Mourinho also referred to what he described as “80s-style pressure” inside the stadium.
The Portuguese manager further argued that Sunday’s decisions were part of a wider pattern of controversial calls against Real Madrid this season.
He referenced the disallowed goal against Osasuna, a penalty decision in San Sebastián, a Barcelona penalty and what he called “the non-expulsion against Athletic Club”, describing them as “things accumulated” over the opening weeks of the campaign.
Mourinho called for Real Madrid to be allowed to compete on an equal footing with their rivals.
“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.
However, Mourinho stopped short of accusing anyone of deliberately working against Real Madrid when asked if the situation had been “set up”.
“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,” he added.
