Following Real's 1-2 loss to Atletico in La Liga's 7th round on 20/9, Mourinho brought photos of Real players being fouled to a press conference and criticized the referee for nearly five minutes. The "special one" also targeted the spanish football refereeing committee (CTA) and implied that Barcelona was favored in the title race.

Almost 24 hours later, Atletico responded with sarcasm on social media. "Stop harassing referees immediately," the club posted in its first message, accompanied by an image of Mourinho on a printed sheet of paper.

According to spanish newspaper Marca, Atletico considered Mourinho's statements about referees unacceptable and demanded respect. "There are red lines that cannot be crossed, and they have done it again. Such disrespect is intolerable," Marca quoted a source from Atletico.

The Metropolitano stadium club believes that spanish football risks being drawn into a dangerous spiral if such behavior continues. "The integrity of spanish football is under threat. Either we stop them now, or there will be no turning back," the source affirmed.

Atletico expressed confusion as to why Real consistently tried to shift attention to refereeing, suggesting that changes previously implemented at the CTA are no longer accepted by their rivals. The red and white striped team also mentioned videos posted by Real Madrid TV, which they believe could pressure and influence referees before each match.

"They want to play the return derby match right now, with referees who have already been pressured and mistakes that favor them," Atletico officials stated, sarcastically commenting on referee assignments. "There is only one person they want to be assigned, and that is Megia Davila," referring to Eduardo Megia Davila, a former referee who is currently a Real representative.

Atletico even continued to use satire to address referee-related controversies. "We once thought about printing all the mistakes that benefited Real, but that would require cutting down all the forests. For sustainability reasons, we cannot do that," a club representative said.

Coach Diego Simeone gives instructions during Atletico's 2-1 victory over Real in La Liga's seventh round at the Metropolitano stadium, madrid, spain on 20/9/2026. Photo: Reuters

After the madrid derby, coach Diego Simeone was also asked about Mourinho's harsh statements and his view on how coaches should react to controversial referee decisions. He emphasized the boundary that coaches should not cross.

"We must respect the referees, respect our colleagues," the argentinian coach said. "When someone crosses that line of respect, whether his name is Mourinho, Simeone, Hansi Flick, or Manuel Pellegrini, it is unacceptable. That line must not be crossed."

Regarding the controversy over two Atletico players avoiding red cards, Simeone considered them merely past events of the match. He reiterated that the head of the refereeing department confirmed Cristian Romero's situation did not warrant a red card and stated he did not wish to delve deeper into the controversy. According to the 56-year-old coach, it is important for coaches to maintain respect for referees, regardless of whether a decision benefits or disadvantages their team.

"Sometimes you benefit, sometimes you are disadvantaged. But given our position, respect for the referee must be maintained. Otherwise, everything could be permissible," Simeone said, emphasizing, "not everything is permissible, even if your name is Mourinho."

Hong Duy (according to Marca, AS)