Mourinho blames referee Ortiz Arias for Derby defeat

Following his 1-2 loss to neighboring rival Atlético Madrid in Sunday’s derby during the seventh round of the Spanish La Liga, Real Madrid, under the guidance of Portuguese manager José Mourinho in his second tenure at the helm, continues to blame the referees to cover up clear collective shortcomings and the lack of cohesion among the trio of Frenchman Kylian Mbappé, Brazilian Vinícius Júnior, and Englishman Jude Bellingham. This time, he pointed the finger at referee Miguel Ángel Ortiz Arias, while VAR official Daniel Jesús Trujillo also found themselves in the crosshairs, supported by printed screenshots of the screen. He insisted that they ignored two clear red-card offenses committed by Atlético Madrid players South Korean Kang-in Lee and Argentine Cristian Romero, due to two heavy challenges on Uruguayan Federico Valverde and Bellingham.

However, Mourinho, accustomed to this type of media strategy, refused to engage in the conspiracy theory championed by the club’s president, unlike his predecessor Álvaro Arbeloa, acknowledging that his team lacks many things beyond the refereeing controversy.