Mourinho blasts ref: 'Two red cards' for Atlético — SkimNews
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- Real Madrid lost 2-1 to Atlético Madrid at the Metropolitano, with Alejandro Grimaldo opening the scoring via penalty after Dean Huijsen was sent off for fouling Giuliano Simeone, Jonathan David adding a second, and Antonio Rüdiger netting a late consolation.
- José Mourinho brought printed photographs of two first-half Atlético incidents into the press room — Cristian Romero's yellow (not red) for treading on Jude Bellingham's knee and Lee Kang-in's unpunished challenge on Federico Valverde — calling them 'two clear red cards.'
- Mourinho said referee Miguel Ángel Ortiz Arias, a 41-year-old with no international experience, 'couldn't cope with the pressure,' and took aim at VAR Daniel Trujillo Suárez and the CTA refereeing committee.
- Mourinho listed recent calls he characterized as favorable to Atlético and Barcelona — including penalties at Real Sociedad and for Barcelona, plus a non-sending-off against Athletic Club — saying, 'I thought I'd find a different league to the one I left.'
- Real Madrid dropped to fourth in LaLiga, six points behind leaders Barcelona after seven games, heading into the international break.
- Diego Simeone declined to engage on the refereeing, saying coaches including Mourinho, Flick and Pellegrini must 'be careful what we say' and not 'cross that line.'
Why it matters: Mourinho's decision to walk printed evidence photos into a press conference and publicly enumerate recent calls he views as anti-Madrid raises the temperature on Spanish refereeing at a moment Real trail Barcelona by six points after seven games, leaving the title picture tilted before the international break.
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