MADRID: Real Madrid coach Jose Mourinho lashed out at Spain’s refereeing committee after Los Blancos lost 2-1 at Atletico Madrid on Sunday in a La Liga derby clash.
Mourinho’s team dropped to third, six points behind unbeaten leaders Barcelona as they stumbled at the Metropolitano stadium.
Alejandro Grimaldo and Jonathan David’s goals earned Diego Simeone’s Atletico victory, with Antonio Rudiger pulling one back late on.
Real were unhappy about fouls by Cristian Romero and Lee Kang-in on Jude Bellingham and FedericoValverde in the first half, which Mourinho insisted should have been red cards.
Real were reduced to 10 men themselves early in the second half when Dean Huijsen fouled Giuliano Simeone to give away a penalty.
‘We could skip the press conference because the story of the match is right here, Mourinho told reporters, clutching a printed piece of paper with images of the fouls he was unhappy about. ‘They were two clear red cards.
Mourinho said referee Miguel Angel Ortiz Arias ‘could not handle the pressure’ at the MetropolitanoStadium and blamed Spain’s refereeing committee, the CTA.
‘The ones who should be really happy are the referee appointment committee, because everything was very strange,’ said Mourinho.
‘They assign a referee who at 41has neverbeen aninternational (referee), so it’s clearly not because he’s a great referee.
Mourinho also said the match’s VAR referee Daniel Jesus Trujillo has ‘history’ with Real.
‘This combination... a referee, poor referee, who has only done tiny little matches, and a VAR official with a bighistory... well, congratulations to the referee appointment committee,’ continued Mourinho.
The coach said he had ‘not seen’ the incident for Huijsen’s red card.
Real created no chances of note in a dull first half against Atletico but Mourinho said he was happy with his players.
‘They played a first half of great quality, of great personality,’ said the veteran Portuguese coach.
Mourinho said his team still had a good chance of winning the Spanish title if the refereeing was fair.
‘If they leave us in peace and calm, if they let us com-pete on equal terms with everyone, there’s still a long way to go,’ said Mourinho.
Asked about Mourinho’s comments, Atletico manager Simeone urged restraint.
‘Whoever is speaking be it me, Mourinho, Hansi Flick or Manuel Pellegrini, anyone we have to be careful what we say,’ Simeone said. ‘When you step outside the bounds of respect, whoever you are, it’s not on. You can’t cross that line.
Simeone preferred to focus on Atletico’s performance.
‘Today we saw a great match; we defended very well against a team that plays very well,’ he said.-Agencies