Jose Mourinho says ‘naive’ Real Madrid were outwitted by Real Betis

Jose Mourinho described Real Madrid’s players as “naive” after they suffered a 1-0 defeat by Real Betis in La Liga, saying the Andalusian side were more intelligent in managing the match and getting the result they wanted.

The loss came in the fourth round of the Spanish top flight and represents Mourinho’s first league defeat since beginning his second spell in charge of Real Madrid. Troy Parrott scored the only goal of the game for Real Betis.

Despite the result, Mourinho said he was pleased with much of his team’s performance and felt there was no obvious explanation for the defeat.

“I did not see what happened with the penalty and the disallowed goal. I did not see either incident clearly, so I cannot comment,” Mourinho said at his post-match news conference.

He added: “We played a great game tonight. We were very good, the attacking work was fantastic, we created many chances and both centre-backs were extremely strong.”

Mourinho said football could sometimes produce results that were difficult to explain.

“Sometimes you lose a game and you do not even know why. There is no explanation for it,” he said.

The Real Madrid manager then criticised his players for failing to make more of the fouls committed by Real Betis.

“Our players are naive. The Real Betis players were smarter than us tonight and managed to get what they wanted from the game,” Mourinho said.

He claimed Real Betis had been aggressive from the opening stages, while Real Madrid’s players had not responded in a way that put pressure on the referee.

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

Mourinho also referred to an incident involving Arda Guler, who was booked for what he considered a minor offence.

“After that, Arda Guler committed a small foul and received a yellow card. Then the Real Betis players began targeting him in an attempt to get him sent off,” he said.

The result leaves Real Madrid on nine points in second place in the La Liga table. Real Betis also moved to nine points and sit third.

Although Real Madrid created several opportunities and Mourinho praised their attacking performance, Real Betis held on for victory after Parrott’s decisive goal. The result gives Mourinho a first league defeat of his second spell at the club after four rounds of the competition.