Mourinho produces printed images of alleged red-card incidents after Real lose Madrid derby
Jose Mourinho arrived at his post-match news conference on 2026-09-20 carrying printed screenshots after Real Madrid were beaten 2-1 by Atletico Madrid in the Madrid derby.
Mourinho entered the briefing with an A4 sheet of printed images showing two incidents he said should have resulted in Atletico dismissals and accused the match officials of key errors following the defeat. It was Real Madrid's second loss of the season, having lost 1-0 to Real Betis earlier in September. "We can skip the press conference because the story of the match is right here," Mourinho said as he showed media the printed images. "Those were two clear red cards. Given the difficulties we faced afterwards playing 11 against 10, we can only imagine what 50 minutes of 11 against nine would have been like. "So I'll just have to limit myself to hugging my players, who gave it their all and played a first half, showed great class and character, setting us up perfectly to win the second half."
Mourinho pointed to a first incident in the 37th minute involving Real's Jude Bellingham and Atletico's Cristian Romero, when both players challenged for a loose ball and the clash ended with Bellingham being shown a yellow card. He said he had pleaded with the referee for a red card to be shown to Romero because replays showed Romero made contact with his studs on Bellingham's knee. Bellingham's yellow was later retracted after a video assistant referee review and Romero was given a yellow.
The second episode Mourinho highlighted was a challenge by Atletico's Lee Kang-in on Fede Valverde, which he said deserved a straight red. The Portuguese coach also questioned the appointment of the match officials and said: "I want to believe they are simply mistakes, just as a coach makes mistakes, just as a player makes mistakes."
Mourinho praised his players' commitment and performance despite the result, saying: "I liked my team as a unit. Even in the first half I really liked them, and in the second half it was obviously very difficult to get the ball and to stop Atleti's possession. I liked their pride, I liked their determination, and it's a good feeling for me to not be disappointed in my players". He also addressed the dismissal of Dean Huijsen, which awarded Atletico a penalty, and admitted he had not yet watched the VAR replay. The defeat leaves Real Madrid fourth in the league standings, with Atletico second and five points behind league leaders Barcelona; Mourinho added: "Under normal circumstances, it's not about how it starts, it's about how it ends."
Atletico manager Diego Simeone welcomed the result and, when asked about Mourinho's comments, said: "I understand that we're in a privileged position with a lot of public scrutiny, as coaches, and whether it's Mourinho, [Hansi] Flick, [Manuel] Pellegrini, me, or anyone else, we need to be careful about what we say. We have to know how to respect others, the referees, our colleagues and we all lose out. And when someone crosses that line of respect, it's not right - you can't cross that line."
Simeone described the derby as intense and praised his side's defensive organisation and collective effort, adding: "The match I watched was an intense one, where I think we controlled it at all times," and: "We faced an opponent with incredible transitions and extraordinary players who obviously play for their team and do so very well. We controlled almost all the transitions they could have had." He added: "I think we controlled the match at all times, through our teamwork, our defence, our collective effort, our group dynamics, and our play. Looking for where we could hurt them, which we knew was on the right side."
La Liga will resume on Friday 9 October following the international break.
