José Mourinho, manager of Real Madrid, openly criticised the refereeing decisions following his team’s 2-1 derby loss to Atlético Madrid on Sunday. Mourinho arrived at his post-match news conference carrying printouts of incidents he believed warranted red cards for Atlético players, prompting a swift social media response from their rivals.
Mourinho’s Post-Match Claims
After Real Madrid’s second defeat of the season, Mourinho accused officials of making crucial errors. He presented screenshots on A4 paper to the media, stating, “We can skip the press conference because the story of the match is right here,” as reported by the BBC. Mourinho highlighted two first-half incidents where he believed Atlético players should have been sent off. The first involved Cuti Romero’s studs catching Jude Bellingham’s knee, and the second, Kang-in Lee’s challenge on Fede Valverde’s ankle. Real Madrid’s official website also attributed the derby loss to “dreadful refereeing” by Ortiz Arias. Real Madrid defender Dean Huijsen was sent off early in the second half when the game was goalless, for a foul on Giuliano Simeone inside the penalty area, which led to Atlético taking the lead from the spot. Mourinho suggested playing 50 minutes with 11 against nine would have been vastly different to playing 11 against 10.
Atlético’s Counter and Simeone’s Response
Atlético Madrid responded to Mourinho’s criticism on Monday through their X account. Their first post was a video depicting a sheet of paper emerging from a printer with the message #StopAcosoArbitralYA, which translates to “stop referee harassment now”. A subsequent post featured a picture of Mourinho at his news conference accompanied by the same hashtag. These posts garnered two million views on X within two hours, as noted by The Guardian. When asked about Mourinho’s comments, Atlético coach Diego Simeone emphasised the need for respect. He stated, “We have to know how to respect others, the referees, our colleagues. And when someone crosses that line of respect, it’s not right – you can’t cross that line.”
