Madrid Derby: Simeone warns Mourinho over referee comments
Diego Simeone has warned Jose Mourinho to be careful about his choice of words after the Portuguese launched a tirade at the centre referee who officiated Sunday’s derby between Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid.
After a scoreless first half which saw both teams sizing up each other tactically, Real Madrid were reduced to 10-men in the 52nd minute of the second half of the game when Dean Huijsen was shown a red card in the crunchy game which was played at the Wanda Metropolitano,
A minute after Huijsen was sent off, A. Grimaldo scored the first goal of the encounter for Athletico Madrid in the 53rd minute while Jonathan David scored the second goal of the game in the 59th minute.
German defender Antonio Rudiger reduced the deficit for his team when his scored in the 89th minute of the game to give his team a fighting chance to equalise which they did not eventually utilise.
Speaking moments after the 2-1 loss to Athletico Madrid, Jose Mourinho said that the centre referee is not good enough and does not have the experience to handle a derby
Mourinho said; “This referee does not have the experience to referee a derby.
“He doesn’t have international games. Why? He isn’t good!
“It’s all been very strange…
“The referee was known a week in advance… and he isn’t an international referee, which suggests he isn’t exactly a top-tier official.
“The poor guy came here and couldn’t handle the pressure,” the coach added.
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Real Madrid also issued an official statement against the referee after the derby stating that his decision not to send off Cuti Romero and Kang-In Lee in the second half ultimately decided the game in Atletico’s favor.
“Real Madrid lose the derby at the Metropolitano in a match marked by Ortiz Arias’ VERY TERRIBLE REFEREEING.
“He failed to send off Cuti Romero in the first half for stepping on Bellingham’s knee (despite going to the monitor to review the incident), nor did he send off Kang-In Lee for stepping on Valverde’s left ankle. Both decisions had an impact on the match, which was ultimately decided in Atlético’s favor in the second half,” the statement concluded.
While reacting to the comments made by his counterpart after the game, Simeone warned that Mourinho should be careful about what he says and should never cross the line with his comments against refrees.
He said; “You can NOT lose the referees’ respect.
“No matter how much of a big name you are, like Mourinho is… we need to be respectful.
“Sometimes things go your way and sometimes they don’t.
“The match was clear: there was one team that controlled it, one team that knew how to take advantage of the important moments in the game and another team that didn’t create the goal scoring chances they normally do.
“You should never cross the line. Regardless of who you are; Mourinho, Flick, Pellegrini, me, or anyone else, we need to be careful about what we say,” Simeone noted.
