Mourinho Fumes at Referee as Atletico Beat Real Madrid 2-1 in Controversial Derby

Atlético Madrid defeated Real Madrid 2-1 on Sunday in a fiercely contested LaLiga derby overshadowed by a series of controversial refereeing decisions at the Riyadh Air Metropolitano.

The match turned particularly contentious in the first half when Real Madrid protested two incidents involving Atlético players Cristian Romero and Lee Kang-in.

Romero was booked after appearing to step on Jude Bellingham’s knee during a challenge. According to Real Madrid’s account of the match, VAR referee Daniel Jesús Trujillo Suárez advised Miguel Ángel Ortiz Arias to review the incident, but the referee ultimately maintained the yellow card. Real Madrid also believed Lee Kang-in should have been sent off for a challenge on Federico Valverde.

The referee’s appointment had already attracted attention before kick-off. Ortiz Arias became the first Madrid-born referee to take charge of an Atlético-Real Madrid derby after Spain’s territorial restriction on Madrid referees handling matches involving Madrid clubs was removed. He had previously refereed Atlético once but had never officiated Real Madrid in a competitive match.

The biggest turning point came five minutes into the second half.

Real Madrid defender Dean Huijsen brought down Giuliano Simeone inside the penalty area while attempting to stop the Atlético forward from advancing towards goal. Ortiz Arias initially showed Huijsen a yellow card before reviewing the incident and changing the decision to a red card.

Alejandro Grimaldo converted the resulting penalty in the 52nd minute to give Atlético the lead.

Six minutes later, Jonathan David doubled the advantage after a cross from Giuliano Simeone, leaving Real Madrid facing both a numerical disadvantage and a two-goal deficit.

Antonio Rüdiger pulled one back for Real Madrid in the 88th minute, but Atlético held on for the victory.

After the final whistle, Real Madrid manager José Mourinho made the officiating the central focus of his press conference. He displayed images of the Romero and Lee Kang-in incidents and argued that both should have resulted in red cards.

Mourinho also questioned the decision to appoint Ortiz Arias, pointing to the referee’s age and lack of international experience for a match of such significance.

“I don’t want to go so far as to say this was set up,” Mourinho said, according to Reuters. “I want to believe that they simply made a mistake.”

The Real Madrid manager also said his team wanted to compete on what he described as a “level playing field”, while stressing that he was not directly accusing officials of deliberately influencing the match.

Atlético manager Diego Simeone responded by urging coaches and other football figures to be careful with their public comments.

Simeone said respect had to be maintained regardless of whether the speaker was himself, Mourinho or another prominent coach, while choosing to focus on Atlético’s performance rather than the refereeing controversy.

The result moves Atlético above Real Madrid in the LaLiga table. Atlético now have 16 points from seven matches, while Real Madrid remain on 15 points.

The derby has therefore left two major talking points: Atlético’s victory and the continuing debate over Ortiz Arias’ decisions, particularly the contrasting treatment of the first-half incidents and Huijsen’s second-half dismissal.

Real Madrid’s official match report went further, describing the officiating as a major factor in the defeat, while Spanish sports outlet AS also highlighted the two first-half red-card controversies and Huijsen’s subsequent dismissal.