Mourinho slams officials as Real beaten by Atletico: “I don’t want to think it was fixed” [video] | OneFootball

Mourinho was left stunned by officials in Madrid [Getty Images]

Atletico Madrid 2-1 Real Madrid 

José Mourinho suffered defeat in his first Madrid derby since returning to Spain, as his Real Madrid side were beaten 2-1 by Atletico Madrid in a controversial encounter on Sunday afternoon.

Atletico scored twice early in the second half through a penalty by former Benfica man Alex Grimaldo (53’) and striker Jonathan David (59’) to assume control against 10-man Real, with Antonio Rudiger registering a late consolation for Mourinho’s men, who slip six points behind arch-rivals Barcelona at the top of La Liga.

The match turned on a disastrous error by Real defender Dean Huijsen on 50 minutes, which saw him concede a penalty and suffer a red card for pulling back Giuliano Simeone, after which Grimaldo opened the scoring from the spot.  While Mourinho did not complain about the incident, he was left bemused by the failure of the officiating team to punish Atletico in the first half.

Mourinho’s grievances related to two incidents not long before the break. While Cristian Romero’s challenge on Jude Bellingham was referred to VAR and deemed to only be a yellow card for the Argentine, a more reckless tackle by Atletico’s Lee Kang-In on Federico Valverde passed without a referral to the officiating team.

Mourinho fumes

Speaking after the match, Mourinho offered no complaints about the decision to award Atletico a penalty or the red card issued to Huijsen, but arrived at his press conference with images of the two contentious incidents involving Romero and Lee to demonstrate what he felt was a failure of justice.

"We could skip the press conference because the story of the match is right here [in the photos] - they are two clear red cards,” Mourinho began. “The difficulties we had after eleven against ten, we can only imagine what it would be like for fifty minutes eleven against nine. Therefore, I have to simply embrace my players, who gave their all and played a first half with great class and character.

“After that, the ones who should be happy, obviously beyond the Atlético fans because they take the points, are the refereeing committee. It's all been very strange. The first thing is that a week before the match, everyone already knew who the referee was, when, according to what I'm told, it's 24 hours before. A week before, everyone already knew who the referee was.

“Then, he's a 41-year-old referee and not an international one. The poor guy came here and couldn't handle the pressure, which I call the pressure of the 80s, something you hardly see anymore. Then there's Mr. Trujillo, who was the VAR official, who called him for the first red card, and I think he didn't call him for the second, which was even worse than the first. He has quite a history as a VAR official in Real Madrid matches.

"To give you a recent example, last season, Real Sociedad in the Cup, Osasuna, and Girona. It's a VAR system with a long history. If you can say the poor referee is inexperienced to come to a derby, then this gentleman (Trujillo) isn't under any pressure because there's no pressure in Las Rozas. Or maybe there is pressure and we just don't know it.

“I'd obviously like to leave here today with a victory, without having to say anything. I've been here for three months now, and I think you've already understood that I'm not exactly keen on this. Two red cards against Elche, then we won; two red cards today, it's a bit more difficult. This combination: a poor referee who's only officiated minor matches and the VAR official, who has a long history. Congratulations to the referee appointment committee."

“I thought I would find a different Liga to the one I left” 

With Real six points behind a rampant Barcelona, Mourinho finds himself already fielding questions about whether his chances of contesting La Liga are diminishing. In response, the former Porto and Benfica boss insisted that there is still plenty to play for, while insinuating that his team are not being treated fairly by the authorities.

“Obviously we want to be in first place, and we don't want to be in second, third, or fourth. We want more points than we have, obviously. But under normal circumstances—because it's not how you start but how you finish—we're talking about the end of September, when we still have a lot to play for.

“I've already said too much, I didn't want to say any more, but things have happened in recent weeks that are laughable. I thought I was finding a different league than the one I left. They told me no, and they explained why it wasn't different from the league I left years ago.

“But we're going to fight. The lads are leaving sad, but with a hug from their coach, because I have a lot of respect for what they feel on the pitch, and it's not easy being on the pitch like they are. What our players feel on the pitch isn't normal, but I liked my team as a team. I liked their pride, their determination, and it's a good feeling for me not to have nothing to reproach them for. Despite the negative result, it's a positive feeling for me.

“Can we win La Liga? If they leave us alone, calmly, and let us compete on equal terms against everyone, there’s still a long way to go. I don’t want to go so far as to say this was rigged. I don’t want to think about that. I want to believe they simply made a mistake.

“Just like a coach or a player can make a mistake, I want to believe the refereeing committee made a mistake. Poor people, they made a mistake and put in a 41-year-old who has never been in a situation like this and another who has a very long history against Real Madrid .”

Mourinho seemingly has the backing of his club, with Real Madrid announcing that “a terrible refereeing decision decides the derby” on their official media following the match, with a picture of Lee’s challenge on Valverde.