Mourinho takes swipe at Barcelona and Atlético penalties: “No questions?”

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·15 September 2026

Mourinho takes swipe at Barcelona and Atlético penalties: “No questions?”

José Mourinho once again delivered one of his trademark lines loaded with irony. The Real Madrid manager ended his pre-match press conference ahead of the game against Elche with a message aimed at the media over the lack of questions about the controversial penalties awarded to Barcelona and Atlético de Madrid in their respective matches over the weekend.

Before leaving the room, the Portuguese coach said:

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“No questions about the penalties? Strange, isn’t it?”

The remark referred to the two incidents that sparked debate. Barcelona were awarded a penalty for a foul on Lamine Yamal during their visit to Levante, while Atlético de Madrid also got a penalty for a handball inside the box against Real Sociedad.

Mourinho had not been directly asked about the referees during the press conference, but he used his final words to bring the issue up.

Mourinho asks for time to improve Real Madrid

Beyond the refereeing controversy, the Real Madrid coach insisted that his team still needs time to reach its best version.

“I ask for three months, others ask for ten years… Maybe I didn’t make myself clear.”

Mourinho explained that his aim is for Real Madrid to be better in three months, while ruling out any immediate transformation.

“In every match and every training session, the goal is to improve.”

The Portuguese manager also stressed the importance of continuity in building a competitive team.

“When a team stays together longer and has had the same coach for more time, it has a better chance of being strong.”

Mourinho full of praise for Arda Güler

The coach also had especially positive words for Arda Güler, who has become one of Real Madrid’s standout players at the start of the season.

Mourinho highlighted his technical quality, vision, and ability to bring stability to the team.

“For me, the quality is incredible, the vision, the decision-making, the stability he gives to the team’s play, the creativity.”

The manager believes the Turkish player has enormous room for growth and is already putting up very impressive numbers.

“He has fantastic potential and is already producing very interesting numbers.”

Although he avoided placing him directly among the best in the world, Mourinho made his view clear:

“Maybe I don’t want to go that far and say top, top, top, three times, but yes, top, top.”

Mourinho’s defensive demands

The coach also explained that he does not expect Real Madrid to press high for the full 90 minutes. His idea is for the team to have different defensive approaches depending on the moment of the match.

“I don’t think it’s possible to press high for 90 minutes, nor is it our profile, and not many teams in the world can do it.”

Mourinho admitted that he does not enjoy a deep defensive block either, but believes it is necessary to know how to defend in different ways for the team to be complete.

“To be complete from a defensive point of view, we have to know how to do both things.”

The objective, as he explained, is to prevent the opponent from taking control even when Madrid has to defend close to its own area.

Diomande will have to wait for his chance

Finally, Mourinho spoke about Yan Diomande, who made his first start against Rayo Vallecano.

The coach defended the young player and made it clear that his lack of prominence has nothing to do with a lack of quality, but rather with the enormous competition within the squad.

“He lacks nothing.”

Mourinho believes that at another club with less talent around him, he would probably be getting far more minutes.

“If instead of being at Madrid with this squad, he were at a team with fewer high-potential players, he would surely be starting and playing 90 minutes in every match.”

The competition, however, is fierce. The Portuguese manager mentioned Arda Güler, Vinícius, Brahim and Rodrygo as part of the huge number of attacking options he will have throughout the season.

“Being an undisputed starter, as you like to say, is very difficult.”

In the meantime, Mourinho continues to build his Real Madrid and, true to his style, did not miss the chance to put the spotlight on the refereeing decisions that benefited his rivals.

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇪🇸 here.