Mourinho says Real Madrid were outsmarted by Real Betis in first La Liga defeat

Jose Mourinho said Real Madrid’s players were “naive” after Real Betis secured a 1-0 victory in the fourth round of La Liga, insisting the Andalusian side were more intelligent in managing the match.

Mourinho felt Real Madrid produced a strong performance despite losing at Estadio Benito Villamarin, but believed Real Betis succeeded in getting exactly what they wanted from the game.

Troy Parrott scored the only goal as Real Betis claimed an important victory. The result left both clubs on nine points, with Real Madrid second in the table and Real Betis third.

The defeat was Mourinho’s first in his second spell as Real Madrid manager in La Liga, and came in only the fourth round of the competition.

Speaking at his post-match news conference, Mourinho said he could not offer an opinion on two key incidents because he had not seen them clearly.

“I did not see what happened with the penalty and the disallowed goal. I did not watch either incident clearly, so I cannot comment,” he said.

Mourinho nevertheless praised his team’s overall display and said Real Madrid had created enough opportunities to take something from the match.

“We played a wonderful game tonight. We were very good, the attacking work was amazing, we created many chances and the two centre-backs were extremely strong,” he said.

“Sometimes you lose a match and you do not even know why. There is no explanation for it.”

The Real Madrid manager then criticised his players for failing to respond to the way the match developed, contrasting their approach with that of Real Betis.

“Our players are naive. Real Betis’ players were more intelligent than us tonight and they managed to get what they wanted from the match,” Mourinho said.

He pointed to the number of fouls committed by Real Betis, particularly in the opening stages, and argued that his side had not done enough to make those challenges costly for the opposition.

“From the first minute of the match, they committed a strong foul against Fede Valverde which clearly deserved a yellow card. They committed many fouls against our players, but our players are naive because they get up quickly and do not cause the opponents to receive cards,” he added.

Mourinho also referred to an incident involving Arda Guler, who was booked for what he described as a minor offence. He claimed Real Betis then attempted to provoke the Turkey international into committing another offence.

“After that, Arda Guler committed a minor foul and received a yellow card. Then the Real Betis players began targeting him, trying to get him sent off,” Mourinho said.

Despite the defeat, Real Madrid remain level on points with Real Betis after the opening four rounds of La Liga. However, the result allowed the Andalusian club to move into third place, one position behind Mourinho’s side.