Mourinho criticises refereeing after Real Madrid lose derby to Atletico Madrid

Jose Mourinho accused the officials of making “obvious” errors after Real Madrid were beaten 2-1 by Atletico Madrid in the seventh round of the Spanish league.

Real Madrid defender Dean Huijsen was sent off in the 52nd minute, after which Atletico were awarded a second-half penalty that put them ahead.

Mourinho said fouls by Kang-In Lee and Romero on Federico Valverde and Jude Bellingham should also have resulted in red cards.

“The game should have been 11 against nine for 50 minutes, but instead it became 11 against 10 against us,” the Portuguese manager said, in comments published by Madrid Zone.

Mourinho said he wanted to “hug” his players because they had given everything, describing their first-half display as “top level”. However, he felt Huijsen’s dismissal made the second half extremely difficult.

He also criticised video assistant referee Trujillo for not asking the referee to review the incident involving Kang-In Lee.

“Mr Trujillo, the VAR who did not call the referee to review Kang-In Lee’s red-card incident, has a very strange history with Real Madrid,” Mourinho said.

“Look only at last season and the many matches involving Real Madrid. As for the unfortunate referee Ortiz, it is obvious that he cannot handle the pressure of matches of this kind.”

Mourinho questions refereeing appointments

Mourinho sarcastically congratulated the committee responsible for appointing referees, saying reports had emerged weeks earlier that Ortiz would take charge of the fixture.

“It is strange because referees are usually appointed in the same week as the match,” he said.

“Then they chose this combination: a VAR with a strange history involving Real Madrid, again and again, alongside a weak, inexperienced referee who had only officiated small matches. The poor refereeing committee made a mistake. How unfortunate for them.”

The manager said Real Madrid would normally be expected not to surrender because it was only September and there was still plenty to play for, but added that “these are clearly not normal circumstances”.

“I do not want to go too deeply into it, but there are clearly some very strange things,” he said. “I hoped that, on returning to the Spanish league, I would find things different from when I left in 2013. Unfortunately, they are still the same.”

Mourinho showed images of red cards he believed Atletico players had escaped and said he was only asking the officials to allow Real Madrid to compete.

“I will not say that what happened today was planned or a conspiracy, will I? It was just a mistake, wasn’t it?” he said.

He insisted he did not blame his players, adding that they had shown desire, fight and determination until the final whistle.

“If we are allowed to compete, then yes, we can still hope to win and challenge for the Spanish league,” Mourinho said.

Asked about the Negreira case, he avoided further debate.

“Negreira is no longer there, is he? If he is no longer there, then it is not tainted by Negreira,” he replied.