Mourinho criticises referee after Atletico beat Real 2-1 in Madrid derby; Simeone urges respect

José Mourinho accused the match officials of losing control after Atletico Madrid beat Real Madrid 2-1 in the Madrid derby in Madrid on September 20, 2026. Atletico coach Diego Simeone responded by urging restraint over public comments about match officials.

Mourinho presented images of two first-half tackles at his post-match press conference and said the footage told the story of the game, singling out incidents involving Cristian Romero and Lee Kang-in. Real were angered that Romero was not sent off for a stamp on Jude Bellingham and also protested a challenge by Lee Kang-in on Federico Valverde. Real were reduced to 10 men five minutes after halftime, though Valverde completed the match and was later diagnosed with "severe trauma to his left ankle," the club said, adding he will undergo further tests.

Mourinho held up the images as he began what turned into an almost five-minute rant and said: "We could skip the press conference because the story ‌of the match is right here." He added: "Those were two clear red cards. ⁠The difficulties we've faced since the sending-off. 11 against 10. Well, we can imagine what 50 minutes of 11 against 9 would have been like if justice had been done."

Real defender Dean Huijsen was sent off for bringing down Giuliano Simeone inside the area as the last defender, and Alejandro Grimaldo converted the resulting low spot-kick. Jonathan David extended Atletico's lead six minutes later, and Antonio Ruediger headed in a free kick late in the game to reduce the deficit to 2-1.

Mourinho criticised the referee appointment, saying: "They've put a referee, aged 41, with no international experience — it's certainly not because ⁠he's a great referee," and added: "Then the poor chap has come here and hasn't been able to cope with the pressure — and it really is intense pressure. I call it '80s-style pressure' ‌here in this stadium, which you hardly ever see these days."

Asked about being six points behind Barcelona, Mourinho said: "If they just leave us in peace and let us compete on a level playing field with everyone else, we've still got a long way to go," and: "I don't want to go so far as to say this was set up... I want to believe that they simply made a mistake."

When asked about Mourinho's comments, Simeone said: "Whoever is speaking — be it me, Mourinho, Hansi Flick or Manuel Pellegrini, anyone — we ​have to be careful what we say." He added: "When you step outside the bounds of respect, whoever you are, it's not on. You can't cross ⁠that line." Simeone also emphasised Atletico's performance, saying: "Today we saw a great match; we defended very well ⁠against a team that plays very well. We controlled the match when it was 11 against 11. We continued to control it when it became 10 ‌against 11. But this isn't just another step towards continuing to grow and improve."

Atletico climbed above Real into second in the standings on 16 points, five behind leaders Barcelona and one ahead of Real and Real Betis. Real were left behind Atletico in the table following the result.