Mourinho slams two missed red cards after Real Madrid's defeat to Atlético

Real Madrid suffered a 2-1 defeat at Atlético Madrid on Sunday in matchday 7 of La Liga, extending their gap to six points behind unbeaten leaders FC Barcelona. José Mourinho did not hold back after the final whistle, publicly denouncing the match’s refereeing.

The turning point came in the 50th minute with Dean Huijsen’s expulsion, confirmed by VAR. Atlético immediately capitalized, with Alex Grimaldo opening the scoring in the 53rd minute, before Jonathan David doubled the lead in the 59th. Vinicius Junior pulled one back for Real Madrid, but the damage was done.

At his press conference, Mourinho entered the room with screenshots of two controversial incidents. The first showed Cristian Romero’s sole on Jude Bellingham in the 38th minute, the second a foul by Kang-in Lee on Federico Valverde in the 44th. “We can skip this press conference, because the story of the match is here: there are two clear red cards,” he said immediately.

The Portuguese manager also targeted the refereeing appointment committee, questioning why Miguel Angel Ortiz Arias was chosen to oversee such a tense derby. “After this match, who should be happy, apart from Atlético who take three points? The refereeing appointment committee,” he declared, suggesting the nomination was deliberately unfavorable to his team.

Mourinho also highlighted an anomaly in the appointment schedule: the referee’s identity was apparently known a week before the match, whereas appointments typically come 24 hours before kick-off. He then questioned Ortiz Arias’s profile—the 41-year-old has never officiated at European level and was refereeing Real Madrid in La Liga for the first time. “The poor man couldn’t handle the pressure, when here there is pressure worthy of the 1980s,” added the “Special One.”

With two defeats in seven matches, Real Madrid find themselves in a precarious league position, while Atlético consolidate their place near the top of the table.