José Mourinho was back to his old self. Following Real Madrid’s painful 2-1 loss on the road against Atlético Madrid in La Liga action, Mourinho shed the calm demeanor he had displayed over the past three months and put on quite a show at the press conference, bitterly complaining about the refereeing and VAR.
True to his provocative style, Mourinho appeared before the media clutching a sheet of paper with photographs to denounce what he considered “two clear red cards” that were not given to Atlético players Cristian “Cuti” Romero and Lee Kang-in. “We might as well skip the press conference, because the story of the game is right here,” the coach fired back. Madrid played almost the entire second half a man down following Dean Huijsen’s ejection in the 52nd minute, a situation Atlético immediately capitalized on to score the winning goals in the 53rd and 59th minutes.
Mou held nothing back and took direct aim at referee Ortiz Arias and the refereeing committee. He called the officiating assignments “strange” and attacked the head referee: “He’s a 41-year-old referee who isn’t on the international roster… The poor guy came here and couldn’t handle the pressure.” He also railed against the VAR official, accusing him of having a “long history” of decisions detrimental to Real Madrid dating back to last season.
The Real Madrid coach’s outburst did not go over well on the opposing bench. Atlético Madrid coach Diego Simeone did not hesitate to respond to the Portuguese coach’s complaints, demanding composure after the final whistle. “We all lose sometimes,” declared “El Cholo,” “but you can’t cross the line of respect, no matter if your name is Mourinho, Flick, or Simeone.”
