Mourinho: Allow us to compete on equal terms, and my players gave everything

José Mourinho, the manager of Real Madrid, made fiery statements after his team's loss to Atlético in the capital derby by two goals to one, where he launched a sharp attack on the refereeing decisions and the referees' appointment committee.

José Mourinho appeared at the press conference holding a paper containing images of Cristian Romero's tackle on Jude Bellingham and Kang-in Lee on Federico Valverde, before stating: "We could have saved time at the press conference because the story of the match is here; they are two clear red cards. The difficulties we faced afterwards, playing 11 against 10, we can imagine how it would have been for 50 minutes playing 11 against 9."

The coach added regarding the players' performance: "Therefore, I have no choice but to embrace my players, as they gave everything. They played a great first half with strong character, and we could have won the match in the second half."

Mourinho moved on to discuss the referee appointment committee, saying: "The one who should be happy is the referee appointment committee, because everything was very strange. A week before the match, it was already known who the referee would be, even though I was told that the announcement should be made 24 hours in advance. Then a 41-year-old referee with no international experience was appointed, and not because he is a great referee. The poor referee came here and couldn't handle the pressure, which I call the pressure of the eighties, something we rarely see in our days."

José Mourinho continued his comments about VAR official Trudío Suárez: "Then there is Mr. Trudío, the video referee, who was called upon for the first red card, and I believe he did not call for the second one, which was bigger than the first. This gentleman has a very long history as a video referee in Real Madrid matches. Just last season, there were Real Sociedad matches in the Copa del Rey, Osasuna, Girona... he has a big history."

Mourinho then said: "We can say about the referee that he is someone who lacks the experience and stature required to manage a derby, but this gentleman does not have pressure, because there in Las Rozas there is no pressure. Or maybe there is pressure and we do not know."

Regarding the red card for Dean Hausen, Mourinho explained: "Honestly, I haven't seen the Hausen incident on the iPad yet, so I can't judge it. Some people in the dressing room tell me that the foul started outside the penalty area, and if that's the case, it's a foul and a red card with the score at 0-0. However, if it was inside the area, it's a penalty, and if there was a clear intent to pull the shirt, then in that case, the red card is correct. But all of this happened in the second half. In the first half, we are talking about a derby that should have been 11 against 9."

The Portuguese coach addressed Real Madrid's position in LaLiga, stating: "It is clear that we want to be in first place, not second, third, fourth, or fifth. We want more points; there are things we have seen in recent weeks... like the penalty for FC Barcelona that is laughable, the non-red card against Bilbao, and that gentleman who was very nice [Arias] to a boy who happens to be a great player [Raphinha]. I thought I would find a different league from the one I left; they told me no and explained to me why it was not different from the league I left here years ago, but here we are, we will fight."

Regarding the possibility of the competition in LaLiga becoming more difficult, Mourinho said: "If they leave us in peace and quiet, and allow us to compete on equal terms with everyone, there is still a lot of time. I don't want to go too far and say that this was planned. I don't want to think about that; I simply want to believe that they made a mistake, just as a coach or player can make a mistake."

He then added after a brief silence: "I want to believe that the referees' committee made a mistake. They just made a mistake, that's all."

When asked if he believes LaLiga has been affected by the Negreira case, Mourinho replied succinctly: "Negreira is no longer here, is he? Or is he still here? Ah, if he is no longer here, then the league is not affected by Negreira."

Mourinho concluded his remarks by praising his players despite the loss, emphasizing that he felt proud of what they delivered, especially given the circumstances they faced during the match. He stated that his feelings after the derby are positive despite the result, as he has nothing to blame his players for.