Atletico beat Real in derby as Mourinho fumes at referee

Atletico Madrid beat Real Madrid 2-1 in the season's first Madrid derby at the Metropolitano on Sunday.

The result gave Atletico the city bragging rights. For Real, it was a second defeat of the season and the start of a full-blown row about the officials.

Real manager Jose Mourinho arrived at his post-match news conference carrying printouts. They were screenshots of two first-half incidents. He said both should have been Atletico red cards.

"Those were two clear red cards," Mourinho said, according to BBC Sport.

Mourinho said referee Miguel Angel Ortiz Arias "could not handle the pressure" at the Metropolitano, SuperSport reported. He also blamed Spain's refereeing committee for the defeat and criticised VAR, the video system used to review key decisions.

Real Madrid's official website went further. Its match report said the loss was decided by "dreadful refereeing" from Ortiz Arias.

The defeat follows a 1-0 loss to Real Betis earlier in September. That makes two defeats already for Mourinho's side this season.

Atletico answered back on Monday 21 September. The club posted twice on X in response to Mourinho's complaints.

The first post was a video of a printer producing a sheet with #StopAcosoArbitralYA, meaning "stop referee harassment now". The second showed a picture of Mourinho at the news conference with the same message. The response had two million views within two hours of posting.

Spanish outlet Marca added more heat. Its analysis said Atletico should have finished with nine players, with Javier Tinto describing the officiating as the biggest refereeing scandal, according to Marca.

Atletico coach Diego Simeone tried to cool it down. He urged respect after what Reuters described as a fiery derby.

Mourinho, who had spoken before the game about his squad's mental strength, praised his players after the loss. He said they showed "great class and character", Yahoo Sports reported.

What makes this stand out is how fast the football became secondary. One tight derby, decided by a single goal, turned into printouts, hashtags and competing versions of the same 90 minutes. The city will remember the score. It will also remember the noise that followed.