Mourinho says refereeing problems have followed him at Real Madrid and in Turkey

Jose Mourinho says he has been “unlucky” with refereeing decisions at certain clubs and revealed that he experienced key stages of the Negreira case while at Real Madrid.

The Portuguese coach was speaking about his relationship with officials after the Madrid derby, which Real Madrid lost 2-1. His comments were published by AS from an interview with Corriere dello Sport.

“Was my relationship with referees the problem? I do not believe the issue is about me,” Mourinho said. “The problem is the bad luck I have whenever I arrive at a particular club.”

“I lived through an important stage of the Negreira case here at Real Madrid. Nobody knew about it, but we lived through it. It happened.”

Mourinho said the significance of the case only became widely understood after his departure.

“I left afterwards, and now everybody knows about it,” he said. “But I was thinking about something else in Turkey, after a major Turkish scandal. This kind of situation happened to me many times.”

He also recalled how the speculation surrounding his return to Real Madrid began, saying it developed in an unusual way.

“Normally, there is first contact and then the noise starts when something is already happening,” Mourinho said. “But here, the opposite happened completely. The noise began when there had been no contact at all.”

At the time, Mourinho said he was content at Benfica, a club he regards as special and which is only 10 minutes from his home.

“I was at Benfica and happy,” he said. “It is a special club for me, and it is 10 minutes from my house. That had not happened for 20 years.”

Mourinho added that Benfica needed major change and that he initially expected to remain there under his three-year contract.

“The club needed a radical change. I thought I would stay there under my three-year contract,” he said. “Then the noise started. I was surprised, but I did not attach any importance to it. I told myself: it is just a rumour.”

He said Real Madrid had already changed managers midway through the season before Alvaro Arbeloa took over, although the outcome of that appointment was not yet known.

“Real Madrid had changed their manager in the middle of the season, and then Arbeloa came in,” Mourinho said. “The results were not known yet, and the noise started. But nobody told me anything. When the rumours began, I told myself it could not be true. I never thought it might actually happen.”

Mourinho also addressed the incident involving Briestiani and Vinicius, describing it as an especially difficult moment.

“It was a very sensitive and extremely difficult point for us because, in the end, Briestiani was suspended, and not because of racism,” he said. “I was a victim of public opinion, and above all of many opportunists, because of a situation that was completely out of control.”

He added: “You have a player saying it is not true, and nobody has evidence that it is true. You cannot take a position. Whatever you say, public opinion will still be wrong.”

“What I really like about the end of this story is that, on one side, there was a wonderful young man, and on the other, there was a perfect young man.”