Real Madrid in chaos: José Mourinho’s incredible outburst at a press conference

José Mourinho puts on a show at the press conference. After the team’s second loss of the season—a 2-1 defeat in the derby against Atlético Madrid at the Metropolitano—the Real Madrid coach lashed out at the referees, starting with a graphic he held up in front of the reporters: “We could skip the press conference, because the whole game is right here.” On the sheet were two photographs: on one side, Kang-in Lee’s tackle on Federico Valverde; on the other, Cuti Romero’s tackle on Jude Bellingham—both in the first half.

“Those are two clear red cards,” says Mou. “You saw how hard it was for us playing 10 against 11—imagine what it would have been like for them to play 9 against 11. The only ones who can be happy besides Atlético are the Referees’ Committee.” It had already struck me as odd that the referee’s name was known a week before the match when it’s usually announced 24 hours before kickoff. Then they chose a 41-year-old guy who isn’t an international referee—and it certainly wasn’t because he’s a great referee—and the poor guy came here and couldn’t handle the pressure, which here is still like it was in the ’80s, something rare these days.”

“Then there’s Mr. Trujillo, who has a long history with Real Madrid: last year’s Cup match against Real Sociedad, and the games against Osasuna and Girona. And if the poor on-field referee lacks the experience and stature for a match like this, Mr. Trujillo isn’t under any pressure there in Las Rozas (home of the VAR room, ed.). Or maybe he is under pressure and we just don’t know it. I would have liked to walk away from here without saying anything; I’ve been back for three months, and you’ve seen that I’m heading in a different direction, but Elche had two red cards—a game we still won—and two red cards today. And here, it’s a bit harder to win with a poor referee who’s only officiated minor matches and a VAR that has a long history with Madrid. Congratulations to the Referees’ Committee.”