Tensions remain high after the Madrid derby. Real Madrid were beaten 2-1 by Atlético Madrid on Sunday and finished the match with ten men following Dean Huijsen’s sending-off. After the final whistle, José Mourinho launched a fierce attack on the refereeing, comments that did not go down well with Diego Simeone.
Sunday’s Madrid derby was another heated affair. At his post-match press conference, Mourinho arrived with photographs of two controversial incidents. According to the Real Madrid coach, both challenges could also have resulted in red cards for Atlético players.
Mourinho launches a fierce attack on the referee
The Portuguese coach did not hold back when assessing the referee’s performance. “This referee does not have the necessary experience to officiate a derby. He has no international matches. Why? He is not good. (…) The poor guy came here and could not handle the pressure. Poor Referees’ Committee, they made a mistake. They paired a young, inexperienced referee with a VAR referee who has a lot of history against us. (…) I’m not going to say that what happened today was prepared, am I?” Mourinho said sarcastically. His comments were particularly strong, especially when he questioned the choice of VAR official and sarcastically raised the idea that the refereeing may have been “prepared.”
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On the other side of Madrid, Simeone refused to debate the individual refereeing decisions but directly reminded Mourinho of his responsibilities. “We respect everything other people say. But we have to understand that Flick, Mourinho, Pellegrini or Simeone, we are in a privileged position with huge exposure and we have to be careful about what we say. We have to know how to respect referees and our fellow professionals.” The Atlético coach went further: “When one of us crosses the line of respect, whether his name is Mourinho, Simeone, Flick or Pellegrini, that is not acceptable. You must not cross that line.”
The derby may therefore be over on the pitch, but the battle continues through public statements. Mourinho is openly disputing the refereeing decisions that accompanied Real Madrid’s defeat, while Simeone believes his rival crossed the line. The controversy is set to keep tensions simmering between the two Madrid clubs.
