Atlético Madrid responded on Monday to Jose Mourinho’s criticism of the arbitration of the derby against Real Madrid. The red-and-white club used its social networks to question the Portuguese coach’s claims about the actions starring Cristian “Cuti” Romero and Kang-in Lee.
The response came a day after Atlético’s 2-1 win over Real Madrid, a match in which Mourinho showed during his press conference two printed photographs to argue that both red-and-white footballers had to be expelled.
Athletic retracted this scene in one of its publications. In a video, a printer shows a sheet with Mourinho’s image during the press conference and, below, the message in red and white: “Stop arbitrary harassment already.”
#StopAcosoArbitralYA pic.twitter.com/dqH7ldaes5
The Madrid club released three messages related to Mourinho’s statements and the arbitral controversies of the derby.
pic.twitter.com/mjppfgZNYU
At the third, Atlético raised the tone of its response with another message addressed to Real Madrid: “This year they have a new challenge.
The publication was accompanied by an image of a triangle with three kits and the legend “machine in mode on”.
This year they have a new challenge. Three weeks without League. This season start very soon.#StopAcosoArbitralYA pic.twitter.com/WfuQBjAhJZ
In this way, Atlético responded directly to Mourinho’s strategy during his appearance to the media after the match.
After the Real Madrid defeat, Mourinho showed two images corresponding to Cuti Romero's entries on Jude Bellingham and Kang-in Lee's on Federico Valverde, both occurred during the first time.
The Portuguese coach said: “We could save the conference. The history of the match is here (he showed two images of Cuti Romero’s tickets to Bellingham and Kang-in’s tickets to Valverde, both in the first half). “Two clear red cards.”
Mourinho also explained how, from his perspective, the expulsions would have changed the development of the match:
“With the difficulties we had 11 against 10, we can imagine what 50 minutes of 11 of us against 9 of them would have been,” he said.
The exchange between both clubs thusins the arbitral controversy of the Madrid derby as one of the main focuses after the Atlético triumph, although the red-and-white response focused specifically on the statements and images Mourinho brought to his press conference.
