Madrid’s derby finished with Atlético de Madrid celebrating a 2-1 victory at the Metropolitano, while José Mourinho carried his argument with the officials into the press room. Back in Spanish football for the first time since leaving Real Madrid in 2013, the Portuguese coach arrived with printed images of incidents he believed should have led to Atlético players being sent off.
The seventh-round Spanish league meeting turned after Real defender Huijsen was dismissed in the second half. Atlético moved two goals clear against 10 men before Real struck late, but the hosts held on for the win.
Mourinho questions referee appointment
Mourinho’s criticism reached beyond the decisions made during the derby. He challenged the process behind the appointment of referee Miguel Ángel Ortiz Arias and VAR official Trujillo, directing much of his anger towards the Spanish Football Federation’s refereeing structure in Las Rozas.
“Atlético will be pleased, but so will the appointments committee,” Mourinho said. “The whole thing was very strange.”
He said the referee’s identity had been known a week before the match, rather than being disclosed around 24 hours beforehand as he suggested is usual. Mourinho also pointed to Ortiz Arias’s age, 41, and his lack of international status, arguing that the official was not among the game’s leading referees.
The Real coach also raised Trujillo’s previous record in matches involving his club, asking whether there was truly no pressure around the federation’s headquarters. Mourinho sarcastically congratulated the appointments committee.
Dismissal changes the derby
The two photographs displayed by Mourinho concerned separate moments in which Real felt Atlético players could have been shown red cards. Asked specifically about Huijsen’s own sending-off, however, Mourinho said he had not had a clear view of the incident because he was too far away.
He nevertheless considered the numerical disadvantage decisive. Real had competed strongly before the interval, he said, and his players left disappointed but with the backing of their coach.
Mourinho referred to an earlier match against Elche, saying Diomande’s first yellow card in that game had also been unusual. In his view, the derby’s first half might have left Atlético with nine players against Real’s 11, whereas the second period instead became 10 against 11 in the home side’s favour.
“If we are allowed to compete on equal terms, we will compete,” Mourinho said. “I do not want to say it was planned; I prefer to believe mistakes were made.”
He added that the choice of a 41-year-old referee and a VAR official with a difficult history involving Real Madrid amounted to poor judgement, and said that unusual things happen at the Metropolitano.
