Jose Mourinho lifted two photographs of contentious tackles for the cameras during his post‑match briefing after Real Madrid fell 2-1 to Atletico Madrid in the La Liga derby. The Portuguese manager used the images as a visual aid for a lengthy tirade aimed at the officiating crew, particularly the referee Miguel Angel Ortiz Arias, whom he accused of failing to enforce the laws of the game. Mourinho’s frustration centred on the fact that Atletico centre‑back Cristian Romero was not shown a red card after a heavy stamp on Jude Bellingham.
In Mourinho’s view, the challenge was a textbook example of violent conduct that should have resulted in an immediate dismissal. He also pointed to a second incident involving Lee Kang‑in, whose tackle on Federico Valverde, according to the Real boss, warranted at least a yellow card, if not a sending‑off.
Both moments, Mourinho argued, shifted the balance of the contest in Atletico’s favour. "We could skip the press conference because the story of the match is right here," Mourinho said, holding up the two photos as the opening line of a near‑five‑minute monologue. "Those were two clear red cards. The difficulties we faced after the sending‑off – eleven against ten – we can only imagine what fifty minutes of eleven against nine would have looked like if justice had been done." The first dismissal of the night fell to Real defender Dean Huijsen, who brought down Giuliano Simeone inside the penalty area.
The referee pointed to the spot, and Alejandro Grimaldo converted the resulting penalty to give Atletico the lead. Six minutes later, Jonathan David doubled the advantage, while Antonio Rudiger managed to pull one back for Real with a late header from a set piece, narrowing the margin but not altering the overall narrative of a match marred by officiating controversy.
Mourinho praised his players for what he described as a first half "full of class and great character," adding that he could only "hug" them after such a performance. Yet his admiration was quickly tempered by sharp criticism of Ortiz Arias and the federation officials who appointed him.
"They have placed a 41‑year‑old referee with no international experience on this stage – it is certainly not because he is a great official," Mourinho said. "The poor chap has been unable to cope with the pressure, which in this stadium feels like the intense, 80s‑style pressure you rarely see these days." When asked about Real’s six‑point deficit to Barcelona, Mourinho responded with a pointed comment: "If they just leave us in peace and let us compete on a level playing field with everyone else, we still have a long way to go." He stopped short of alleging a conspiracy, stating, "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." The club’s official match report echoed Mourinho’s grievances, describing the encounter as "marked by poor officiating." The statement claimed that Ortiz Arias failed to send off Romero for stepping on Bellingham’s knee, even after a VAR review, and also neglected to penalise Lee Kang‑in for a studs‑on‑ankle challenge on Valverde. According to the report, these two decisions fundamentally shaped the outcome, allowing Atletico to gain the upper hand in the second half. The report detailed the sequence of events: In the 30th minute, Bellingham reached a loose ball before Romero, who then drove his studs into the Madrid midfielder’s left knee.
Ortiz Arias initially booked Bellingham, but after a request from VAR official Trujillo Suárez, he reviewed the footage, rescinded the yellow card, and issued a yellow to Romero instead of a red. Nine minutes later, Lee Kang‑in made contact with Valverde’s left ankle, again using his studs. Despite being in close proximity to the incident, Ortiz Arias did not issue any card to the Atletico player, nor was he prompted by VAR to intervene. Mourinho’s display of the photographs was not merely a theatrical gesture; it underscored his long‑standing belief that refereeing errors can alter the course of a match, especially in high‑stakes derbies.
By presenting visual evidence, he sought to make an undeniable case to the media, the league, and the fans that the decisions were not subjective opinions but clear breaches of the rulebook. Beyond the immediate fallout, the incident raises broader questions about the consistency of VAR implementation in La Liga. Critics argue that the technology, while intended to reduce human error, sometimes creates a false sense of infallibility, leading officials to over‑rely on video checks and under‑react to obvious infractions on the field. In this instance, the VAR team’s decision to review the Bellingham‑Romero clash resulted in a downgraded sanction, while a second, equally blatant challenge went unreviewed entirely.
Real Madrid’s hierarchy is now faced with the task of addressing the referee’s performance with the Spanish federation, possibly filing a formal complaint. Meanwhile, Mourinho will likely continue to use the incident as a rallying point for his squad, emphasizing resilience in the face of perceived injustice.
The next fixtures will test whether the team can rebound from a defeat that, in their view, was heavily influenced by officiating errors, and whether the league will take steps to ensure more consistent application of the rules in future derbies.