Atletico Madrid hit back at Real Madrid after Mourinho’s refereeing attack

A source at Atletico Madrid has launched a strong response to Real Madrid after Jose Mourinho criticised the officials following the capital derby.

Atletico beat Real Madrid 2-1 at Riyadh Air Metropolitano on matchday seven of La Liga, leaving Real third and six points behind leaders Barcelona.

“There are red lines that cannot be crossed, and Real Madrid have crossed them again,” the Atletico source told Spanish newspaper Marca. “You cannot behave disrespectfully.”

“This kind of behaviour misleads Spanish football and leads it towards the abyss. The integrity of the game in Spain is at risk. Either we stop them now, or there will be no way back.”

The source added: “Real Madrid want to play the second derby of the season now, with terrible referees and mistakes going in their favour. The only appointment they might like would be Mejia Davila – a former referee and Real Madrid’s current delegate.”

“We considered printing every mistake that has benefited Real Madrid, but we would have run out of forests. We could not do it for reasons of environmental sustainability.”

Atletico had earlier responded to Mourinho’s comments with a post on Facebook saying: “Stop harassing referees now.”

The club’s account displayed the words in a printed image, echoing Mourinho’s own action at his post-match news conference. He had shown a printed picture to illustrate his belief that the referee had been wrong not to send off two Atletico players.

Mourinho criticises officials

Mourinho said the referee had lacked the experience to handle the derby.

“The referee was not experienced enough to manage the match,” he said. “He is only 41 and, poor man, he could not deal with the pressure. He is a modest referee who has only officiated small matches. Congratulations to the refereeing committee for this appointment.”

He also criticised the video assistant referee, saying: “He has a long history with Real Madrid in cup matches against Girona and Osasuna. He has a lot of history.”

“There were two obvious red cards for Atletico Madrid,” Mourinho added. “We saw the difficulties we faced playing with 10 against 11. Imagine the difficulties they would have faced playing 11 against nine.”

Mourinho said his players had given everything and produced an outstanding first half, adding that Real could have settled the match in the second period. He said the VAR official had extensive experience and was not under pressure.

He said he had wanted to leave with a win, but would otherwise have preferred not to have to discuss refereeing. Mourinho said he had been at the club for three months and was not focused on officials, but noted that Real had received two red cards against Elche despite winning and two more in the derby.

Discussing Housen’s dismissal, Mourinho said he had not yet seen the incident clearly. If the foul began outside the area, he said, it should have been a free-kick and a red card at 0-0; if it happened inside, it should have been a penalty. He added that an obvious shirt-pull would also justify a dismissal.

Mourinho said Real wanted to finish top and earn more points, but stressed that the season was still at the end of September and there was plenty of time remaining.

He said he had expected La Liga to be different from the one he had left, but had been told it was not, and had been given an explanation.

Despite the defeat, Mourinho said his feelings were positive. He praised his team’s effort in both halves, although retaining possession and stopping a strong Atletico side had been extremely difficult while playing with an extra man.

He said he did not want to suggest anything was organised and preferred to believe the refereeing committee had simply made a mistake.

Asked whether La Liga had become suspicious because of the Negreira case, Mourinho replied: “Negreira is no longer here, is he? Then La Liga is not suspicious because of that case.”