Mourinho condemns referee after Real Madrid lose Madrid derby to Atletico

Jose Mourinho criticised referee Miguel Angel Ortiz Arias after Real Madrid’s 2-1 defeat by Atletico Madrid, claiming his side should have played against nine opponents for much of the match.

Mourinho brought images of first-half tackles involving Jude Bellingham and Federico Valverde to his post-match news conference, arguing that both Atletico challenges warranted red cards.

“We could skip the press conference because the story of the match is right here,” said Mourinho, holding up the photographs.

“Those were two clear red cards. The difficulties we’ve faced since the sending-off. Eleven against 10. Well, we can imagine what 50 minutes of 11 against nine would have been like if justice had been done.”

Real Madrid were reduced to 10 players five minutes into the second half when last defender Dean Huijsen fouled Giuliano Simeone inside the penalty area.

Alejandro Grimaldo scored from the resulting penalty and Jonathan David extended Atletico’s advantage six minutes later. Antonio Rudiger’s late header gave Real Madrid hope, but Atletico held on to secure victory.

Mourinho praised his players for their first-half performance but questioned the appointment and handling of the match by Ortiz Arias.

“They’ve put a referee, aged 41, with no international experience – it’s certainly not because he’s a great referee,” Mourinho said.

“Then the poor chap has come here and hasn’t been able to cope with the pressure – and it really is intense pressure.”

The defeat leaves Real Madrid six points behind leaders Barcelona. Mourinho said his team could still compete for the title if they were allowed to do so fairly.

“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.

“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.”

Atletico manager Diego Simeone called for caution from Mourinho and other managers when speaking publicly about refereeing decisions.

“Whoever is speaking – be it me, Mourinho, Hansi Flick or Manuel Pellegrini, anyone – we have to be careful what we say,” Simeone said.

“When you step outside the bounds of respect, whoever you are, it’s not on. You can’t cross that line.”

Simeone concentrated instead on his team’s display, saying Atletico had controlled the contest both before and after Huijsen’s dismissal.

“Today we saw a great match; we defended very well against a team that plays very well,” he said.

“We controlled the match when it was 11 against 11. We continued to control it when it became 10 against 11.”

The victory moved Atletico above Real Madrid into second place on 16 points, five behind Barcelona.

Real Madrid’s next La Liga match is against Villarreal at the Santiago Bernabeu on 10 October.