Mourinho berates Madrid derby ref, hints at conspiracy to help Barcelona win LaLiga

Jose Mourinho launched a furious attack on referee Miguel Angel Ortiz Arias after Real Madrid’s 2-1 defeat to Atletico Madrid, using two first-half tackles to illustrate what he believed was a serious officiating failure.

The Portuguese manager also appeared to question whether Real Madrid are being given a fair chance in the LaLiga title race, with Barcelona now six points clear.

Mourinho arrived at his post-match press conference with a sheet of paper containing images of two first-half tackles, involving Cristian Romero on Jude Bellingham and Lee Kang-in on Federico Valverde.

Real Madrid were furious that Romero was not sent off for a stamp on Bellingham, while they also complained about Lee’s challenge on Valverde. The midfielder completed the match but was later diagnosed with "severe trauma to his left ankle", according to the club.

"We could skip the press conference because the story of the match is right here," Mourinho said while holding up the images.

"Those were two clear red cards. The difficulties we've faced since the sending-off. 11 against 10. Well, we can imagine what 50 minutes of 11 against 9 would have been like if justice had been done."

Real were eventually reduced to 10 men when Dean Huijsen was sent off for bringing down Giuliano Simeone inside the area. Alejandro Grimaldo converted the resulting penalty before Jonathan David doubled Atletico’s advantage, with Antonio Ruediger scoring late for Madrid.

Mourinho also criticised Ortiz Arias and questioned the decision to appoint him.

"They've put a referee, aged 41, with no international experience – it's certainly not because he's a great referee," he said.

The Real Madrid manager claimed Ortiz Arias struggled to handle the pressure of the derby, describing the atmosphere inside the stadium as unusually intense.

"Then the poor chap has come here and hasn't been able to cope with the pressure – and it really is intense pressure. I call it '80s-style pressure' here in this stadium, which you hardly ever see these days."

Mourinho praised his players for their first-half performance before turning his attention to the growing gap between Madrid and Barcelona.

"I don't want to go so far as to say this was set up... I want to believe that they simply made a mistake," he said when asked about the title race.

"If they just leave us in peace and let us compete on a level playing field with everyone else, we've still got a long way to go."

With Barcelona now six points ahead, Mourinho’s comments have added another layer of controversy to an already heated Madrid derby. The Portuguese manager stopped short of directly accusing anyone of manipulating the title race, but his remarks clearly questioned whether Real Madrid are receiving a level playing field in their pursuit of Barcelona.