By Adegboyega Adeleye
Atletico Madrid have hit back at Jose Mourinho after the Real Madrid manager accused referees of making key errors during Sunday’s Madrid derby defeat.
Mourinho arrived at his post-match press conference carrying printed screenshots of two incidents he believed should have resulted in Atletico players being sent off during Real Madrid’s 2-1 defeat.
The Portuguese manager displayed the images to reporters and argued that Real could have faced the second half against nine Atletico players if the decisions had gone in their favour.
“We can skip the press conference because the story of the match is right here,” Mourinho said while showing the printed images.
“Those were two clear red cards. Given the difficulties we faced afterwards playing 11 against 10, we can only imagine what 50 minutes of 11 against nine would have been like.”
Atletico responded on Monday through their official X account with a pointed message aimed at Mourinho and the wider complaints about refereeing.
Their first post showed a sheet of paper emerging from a printer carrying the hashtag #StopAcosoArbitralYA, which translates as “stop referee harassment now”.
The club then posted an image of Mourinho holding the screenshots at his press conference, accompanied by the same message.
The response quickly attracted more than two million views on X within two hours, according to BBC Sport.
Atletico have previously used their social-media channels to respond to rivals, including posts aimed at Barcelona during the Catalan club’s pursuit of Atletico forward Julian Alvarez.
Mourinho’s complaints came after Real Madrid suffered their second defeat of the season, following a 1-0 loss to Real Betis earlier in September.
Real Madrid’s match report also blamed the defeat on what it described as “dreadful refereeing”.
Atletico coach Diego Simeone, however, urged Mourinho and other managers to remain within the bounds of respect when discussing officials and fellow coaches.
“I understand that we’re in a privileged position with a lot of public scrutiny, as coaches, and whether it’s Mourinho, [Barcelona manager Hansi] Flick, [Real Betis boss Manuel] Pellegrini, me, or anyone else, we need to be careful about what we say,” Simeone said.
“We have to know how to respect others, the referees, our colleagues. And when someone crosses that line of respect, it’s not right – you can’t cross that line.”
Mourinho, meanwhile, praised his players for their response despite the defeat, saying they had shown “great class and character” during the first half.
The exchange adds another layer to the latest Madrid derby after Atletico claimed a 2-1 victory over their city rivals.
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