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José Mourinho and Real Madrid launched a two-front attack on the officiating crew following Sunday's 2–1 defeat to Atlético Madrid. Within less than an hour of the stinging derby loss, the club issued an official statement blasting the "terrible refereeing" of Miguel Ángel Ortiz Arias during Sunday's fiery encounter.
Los Blancos made the short journey to the Metropolitano on Sunday for the season's opening Madrid derby, and nothing unfolded as Mourinho's side had hoped. They were kept subdued throughout the first half before quickly finding themselves a man down in the second, after Dean Huijsen was dismissed for denying Giuliano Simeone a clear goalscoring chance.
Adding to Real Madrid's frustration were two contentious officiating calls that went against the away side, both highlighted in a blistering post-match statement released by the club.
"Real Madrid lost a derby at the Metropolitano in a match defined by the terrible refereeing of Ortiz Arias, who failed to send off Cuti Romero in the first half for standing on [Jude] Bellingham's knee (despite reviewing the incident at the monitor) nor Lee Kang-in for treading on [Federico] Valverde's left ankle," the statement read.
"Both decisions shaped the match, which was ultimately settled in the second half in Atlético's favor."
A Closer Look at Both Decisions
There were indeed two separate moments when Atlético Madrid could have found themselves reduced to nine men during Sunday's derby. The first occurred in the 35th minute, when Bellingham and Cristian Romero clashed while competing for a loose ball.
The Real Madrid midfielder reached the ball first and slid in before the Argentine defender arrived late. Romero challenged for the ball but then landed on Bellingham's knee in his follow-through. Referee Ortiz Arias astonishingly awarded Bellingham a yellow card for the incident before VAR official Daniel Jesús Trujillo Suárez summoned him to the pitchside monitor to reconsider.
Ortiz Arias returned to the field, overturned Bellingham's yellow card, and redirected the caution toward Romero instead. Real Madrid insisted in their statement that the defender should have received a red card for "driving his studs into [Bellingham's] left knee."
The more disputed call arrived just nine minutes later, when Lee Kang-in raked his studs across Valverde's ankle in a reckless and hazardous challenge that had little to do with the ball. Referee Ortiz Arias failed to produce even a yellow card, let alone a red, for the foul.
The VAR team also chose not to direct the on-field referee to the monitor to reassess the incident.
Mourinho Shreds the Refereeing Performance
While Mourinho had been relatively restrained throughout the season, the manager reverted to familiar form when he arrived at his post-match press conference clutching printed photographs of both challenges. He held nothing back, directly targeting the officials in a rant that club president Florentino Pérez would have applauded.
"We could have skipped the press conference entirely, because the story of this match is right here," Mourinho said, holding up the images. "Those were two clear red cards. Given the difficulty we had playing 11 against 10, just imagine what 50 minutes of 11 against nine would have looked like."
"Everything felt very odd. For starters, the referee's identity was already public knowledge a full week before the match, when, as I've been told, it should only be announced 24 hours in advance. A week ahead of time, everyone already knew who it would be."
"On top of that, this is a 41-year-old referee who isn't even internationally certified — and not because he's an exceptional official. The poor man came here and couldn't cope with the pressure, what I'd call old-school pressure from the '80s, something you rarely encounter nowadays. Then there's Mr. Trujillo on VAR. He called the referee over for the first red card, but apparently didn't intervene for the second, which was even more obvious than the first."
"You might argue the referee is inexperienced and ill-equipped for a derby, but this gentleman [Trujillo on VAR] faces no such pressure — there's no pressure in Las Rozas. Or perhaps there is, and we simply aren't aware of it."