Mourinho questions refereeing after Real Madrid lose Madrid derby to Atletico

Monday 21 September 2026 - 13:00

José Mourinho turned the spotlight on refereeing decisions after Real Madrid suffered a 2-1 defeat to Atletico Madrid in Sunday’s Madrid derby, arguing that two opposing players should have been sent off during a match that also saw Real defender Dean Huijsen dismissed.

The Portuguese coach devoted much of his post-match press conference to the officials, presenting printed images to journalists as evidence for what he described as two incidents that warranted red cards.

Mourinho focuses on two disputed challenges

Mourinho said the two challenges were central to his interpretation of the match. According to the Real Madrid coach, both incidents should have resulted in dismissals and would have dramatically changed the balance of the contest.

“Those two fouls” were enough, in Mourinho’s view, to summarize the controversy surrounding the derby. He argued that Real Madrid had already faced considerable difficulties after being reduced to ten players and suggested that Atletico Madrid would have struggled even more had they been reduced to nine.

The coach also questioned the broader context surrounding the officiating appointments, saying the circumstances appeared unusual while stopping short of directly accusing officials of deliberate wrongdoing.

Criticism directed at the referee and VAR official

Mourinho singled out referee Miguel Angel Ortiz, questioning whether the 41-year-old official had the required level for an international match. He also criticized video assistant referee Daniel Jesus Trujillo, referring to what he described as a problematic history involving VAR decisions affecting Real Madrid.

Despite the strength of his comments, Mourinho later adopted a more cautious position, saying he preferred to believe that the officials had simply made mistakes — just as players and coaches can make mistakes during a match.

His remarks nevertheless ensured that refereeing became the dominant subject of the post-match discussion.

Huijsen red card adds to Real Madrid frustration

The controversy came against the backdrop of Dean Huijsen's dismissal early in the second half. Playing with ten men made Real Madrid's task more difficult as Atletico sought to protect its advantage.

For Mourinho, the combination of Huijsen's sending-off and the incidents he highlighted created an uneven competitive situation.

The defeat was Real Madrid's second loss in La Liga and left the club six points behind league leaders Barcelona, increasing the importance of the points dropped in the derby.

Mourinho rejects conspiracy theory over Negreira case

Mourinho was also asked about the long-running Negreira affair, involving former Spanish refereeing official José María Enríquez Negreira and payments linked to FC Barcelona.

Unlike former Real Madrid coach Alvaro Arbeloa, Mourinho declined to use the case as the basis for a wider conspiracy theory surrounding the league's refereeing.

His response was comparatively brief: Negreira was no longer involved, he noted, and he therefore did not consider the competition to be tainted on that basis.

The exchange highlighted the distinction Mourinho sought to make between criticizing specific refereeing decisions and making broader allegations about the integrity of Spanish football.

A derby defeat with wider consequences

Real Madrid now face the challenge of recovering from a damaging result while Mourinho's comments ensure that the refereeing debate will continue beyond the final whistle.

For Atletico Madrid, the 2-1 victory delivers an important derby result. For Real Madrid, the six-point gap to Barcelona adds pressure to the next phase of the league campaign, with the team's performance on the pitch now likely to be examined alongside the decisions that generated controversy at the Metropolitano.