walked into the Metropolitano press room with a printed A4 sheet instead of a speech. It showed stills of two first-half challenges. After Atletico Madrid beat Real Madrid 2-1 on Sunday, the Real boss said those pictures told the whole story of the derby.
Alejandro Grimaldo scored from the spot in the 53rd minute, and Jonathan David added a second six minutes later. Antonio Rudiger headed a late consolation. Real Madrid finished with 10 men after was sent off early in the second half. The result left Atletico Madrid second on 16 points and Real Madrid fourth on 15, six behind unbeaten leaders Barcelona.
“We can skip the press conference as the story of the game is here; they are two clear red cards,” he said. “The difficulties we had playing 11 against 10, we can only imagine what it would have been like for 50 minutes with 11 against nine.”
The first clip showed Cristian Romero’s studs on’s knee around the 37th minute. Referee Miguel Angel Ortiz Arias first booked Bellingham, then, after a VAR check for mistaken identity, switched the yellow to Romero. Mourinho wanted a red.
The second showed Lee Kang-in’s challenge on Federico Valverde’s ankle. Ortiz Arias gave nothing. Real later said Valverde needed tests on the injury.
“Therefore, I must limit myself to embracing my players, who gave everything and played a very classy and confident first half,” Mourinho added. “After that, the ones who should be happy, obviously beyond Atletico’s fans because they got the points, are the referee appointment committee.”
The game was still 0-0 when Dean Huijsen pulled Giuliano Simeone inside the box. Ortiz Arias pointed to the spot and showed a yellow. VAR official Daniel Jesus Trujillo Suarez sent him to the monitor. The card became a straight red for denying an obvious goalscoring chance. Grimaldo beat Thibaut Courtois from the penalty. David then finished Simeone’s low cross.
Real’s official statement called it “a derby marked by the poor officiating of Ortiz Arias.”
The Portuguese coach turned on Spain’s Technical Committee of Referees (CTA) for naming Ortiz Arias, 41, who has never been an international referee.
“It’s all been very strange,” Mourinho said. “It’s a referee who, at 41, doesn’t have international experience. I don’t know why he was the referee. The poor guy came here and couldn’t cope with the pressure.”
He then named the . “That combination, a poor referee, who’s only done small games, and a VAR with a big history. Congratulations to the CTA.”
He stopped short of calling it a setup. “I don’t want to go too far and say this was prepared. I want to think they simply made mistakes.”
Real Madrid go into the international break with two league defeats already. Jose Mourinho left the pictures on the table. The argument will travel with them.
