Madrid boss Jose Mourinho accuses officials of bias after his side’s 2-1 derby defeat by Atletico Madrid.
Published On 22 Sep 202622 Sep 2026
La Liga President Javier Tebas has hit out at what he calls accusations of a refereeing “conspiracy” by Real Madrid after their derby loss to Atletico Madrid.
Real Madrid coach Jose Mourinho brought two printed screenshots of what he thought were red-card tackles committed by Atletico players to his post-match news conference after Sunday’s 2-1 defeat.
Tebas responded to a pro-Real article on social media with a lengthy riposte on Tuesday to allegations of a “conspiracy” against the 15-time European champions.
“Here they go again, the mouthpieces and the regime’s television, building the same old narrative – the permanent conspiracy,” said Tebas, who has often been at odds with Real Madrid and the club’s outspoken president, Florentino Perez.
“This article goes further. It claims that referees harm ‘the business that feeds them’.
“What exactly is it asking for? Refereeing based on revenue, viewership or the badge? What a way to understand equality in the competition.
“Real Madrid are crucial to La Liga. But claiming that ‘La Liga is worth nothing’ without them reveals the disdain for the other clubs, their fans and their history. The competition belongs to no one.”
Madrid have made a stuttering start to the season and already sit six points behind reigning champions and early leaders Barcelona in the La Liga table.
“Claiming that referees are directed against Real Madrid is living in another galaxy,” Tebas added.
“That narrative serves as an excuse to cover up other shortcomings that are plain to see in these first matches of the season.
“It’s more comfortable to point to a conspiracy than to explain what’s happening on the pitch.”
Mourinho returned for a second spell in charge at the Santiago Bernabeu in the close season, tasked with ending a two-year spell without a major trophy.
After the heated capital derby on Sunday, Mourinho was furious that Atletico defender Cristian Romero was not sent off for a stamp on Jude Bellingham and also complained about a challenge by Lee Kang-in on Federico Valverde before the visitors were themselves reduced to 10 men five minutes after half-time.
Valverde finished the match but was later diagnosed with “severe trauma to his left ankle”, the club said in a statement. The midfielder will undergo further tests, it added.
“We could skip the press conference because the story of the match is right here,” Mourinho said, holding up the images in what was the start of a near five-minute rant.
“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 nine would have been like if justice had been done.”
The game hinged on Huijsen’s red card early in the second half for pulling down Giuliano Simeone in the box.
Published On 20 Sep 202620 Sep 2026
Atletico Madrid edged 10-man Real Madrid 2-1 in a La Liga derby clash to leave Jose Mourinho’s side trailing leaders Barcelona by six points.
Dean Huijsen was sent off early in the second half for Los Blancos on Sunday before Alejandro Grimaldo and Jonathan David’s goals earned Diego Simeone’s Atletico victory, with Antonio Rudiger pulling one back late on.
Atletico rose to second, five points behind Barca and one ahead of Real Madrid, who chalked up a second defeat of the campaign.
The game hinged on Huijsen’s red card early in the second half, for pulling down Giuliano Simeone in the box which led to a penalty, tucked away by Grimaldo to set Atletico on their way.
Mourinho started with Aurelien Tchouameni in midfield over Bernardo Silva, opting for defensive clout over creativity.
There was more tension than footballing quality in the first half, with neither side capable of creating any clear chances.
The main talking point was an incident between Jude Bellingham and Atletico defender Cristian Romero.
The England international threw himself into a tackle and Romero trod on his leg, with Bellingham booked initially, but after a VAR review the referee removed the card and issued it to the Atletico man.
Madrid were also unhappy with a heavy tackle by Lee Kang-in on Federico Valverde which went unpunished just before half-time.
It was a scrappy battle, intense but lacking excitement comparative to the star power on the pitch, especially in Madrid’s front line, with Vinicius Junior, Kylian Mbappe and Bellingham kept quiet.
The game burst into life early in the second half when Huijsen pulled back Giuliano Simeone’s arm as the forward ran through on goal and Atletico were awarded a penalty.
Huijsen was dismissed after a VAR review and Grimaldo beat Madrid goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois from the penalty spot.
Mourinho reacted immediately by replacing the underwhelming Vinicius and Arda Guler and sending on club record signing Yan Diomande and Rudiger.
It was Atletico who struck next, though, with Canada international David tucking away Giuliano Simeone’s raking low cross on 59 minutes for his third goal in three matches.
The hosts came close to getting a third but Courtois made an excellent save to deny Julian Alvarez and Ibrahima Konate reacted brilliantly to head Grimaldo’s effort from the rebound off the line.
Atletico goalkeeper Jan Oblak saved from Diomande and Bellingham rowed with Giuliano Simeone as Madrid’s frustrations showed, impotent to change the course of the game.
Madrid pulled a goal back in the final stages with Rudiger heading Bernardo Silva’s cross past Oblak. However, it was too little too late for Mourinho’s side.
Who: Atletico Madrid vs Real Madrid What: La Liga Where: Metropolitano Stadium, Madrid, Spain When: Sunday, September 20, at 4:15pm (14:15 GMT) How to follow:Al Jazeera Sport will bring you all the build-up from 11:15 GMT before our live text commentary stream
Atletico host bitter city rivals Real for the Madrid derby as both sides look to keep up with early La Liga pacesetters Barcelona.
Madrid trail unbeaten champions Barcelona at the top of the table by three points, with Atletico third.
Atletico have bounced back from back-to-back defeats to Bilbao and Liverpool earlier in September, beating Real Sociedad 3-0 and Osasuna 4-0 in their last two games.
Real come into the game in decent form under boss Jose Mourinho but have had wobbles this month, with a defeat to Betis and scoring late to beat bottom club Elche after squandering a two-goal lead.
Improving Atletico cruise to win over Osasuna
Atletico Madrid thrashed Osasuna 4-0 on Wednesday to build some form in the run-up to Sunday’s derby clash against rivals Real Madrid.
Jonathan David, Lee Kang-in, Robin Le Normand and Alex Baena’s goals helped Diego Simeone’s side cruise to a comfortable home victory.
They were without injured striker Julian Alvarez, but it did not matter after they secured a second straight win to cut the gap on top two Barcelona and Real Madrid.
The comfortable victory was important for an Atletico side with lots of new faces still bedding in, after two defeats in their three matches prior.
“We controlled it in the first half even though we weren’t clinical,” said coach Diego Simeone. “We were clinical in the second half and controlled the game.”
Atletico Madrid’s Alex Baena runs with the ball during the win over Osasuna at the Metropolitano Stadium [Oscar del Pozo/AFP]
Mourinho rues lack of game control
Real Madrid squandered a two-goal lead before substitute Carlos Espi struck in stoppage time to secure a dramatic 3-2 victory at Elche in La Liga on Tuesday.
Real went 2-0 up inside 33 minutes through a Matias Dituro own goal and Kylian Mbappe, but second-half strikes from Abiel Osorio and Fer Nino hauled Elche level before Espi restored the visitors’ lead in the 91st minute.
It was the second time in six league matches that the 21-year-old Espi had come off the bench to score a late winner, although Mourinho remained concerned by Real’s failure to control the second half in advance of Sunday’s derby against Atletico Madrid.
“The problem seems obvious to me. It’s harder to know why, but it’s easy to understand that there are matches that seem over and, in the end, aren’t,” said Mourinho.
“[There are] matches where we have three, four, five chances to finish them and don’t,” he said at the pre-match news conference.
“After failing to do so, it feels like we go from ease, because it seemed easy, to losing control.”
Mourinho said his team’s defensive issues were of concern.
“Not just for Sunday’s match, but for every match. I like my team to score goals … but I also like controlling matches,” explained Mourinho.
“I don’t like gifting control. It’s not about the goals, it’s about giving away control of the match.”
Mourinho’s side gave him a fright during their win over Elche [Alberto Saiz/AP Photo]
Prediction
The Opta supercomputer has made Real Madrid the favourites, with a win probability of 46.6 percent. Atletico were given a 28.3 percent chance of winning, while a draw was estimated at a 25.1 percent likelihood.
Head-to-head
The rivals have faced each other on 243 occasions; Real Madrid won 125 games, Atletico won 60, while 58 matches ended as draws.
Last five encounters:
March 22, 2026: Real Madrid 3-2 Atletico (La Liga)
January 8, 2026: Atletico 1-2 Real Madrid (Spanish Super Cup semifinal)
September 27, 2025: Atletico 5-2 Real Madrid (La Liga)
March 12, 2025: Atletico 1-0 Real Madrid (Champions League last 16, second leg)
March 4, 2025: Real Madrid 2-1 Atletico (Champions League last 16, first leg)
What happened the last time the two clubs played each other?
Vinicius Jr scored twice as Real Madrid fought back to beat Atletico Madrid 3-2 at the Santiago Bernabeu in a breathless Spanish capital derby in March.
Atletico’s Ademola Lookman opened the scoring in the 33rd minute, finishing a slick counterattack involving Matteo Ruggeri and a delightful back-heel from Giuliano Simeone.
Vinicius equalised from the penalty spot in the 52nd minute, after David Hancko clumsily tripped Brahim Diaz, and Federico Valverde capitalised on a Jose Maria Gimenez error three minutes later to make it 2-1 to Real.
Nahuel Molina silenced Real’s Bernabeu stadium with a thunderous 30-metre strike in the 66th minute, but Vinicius restored Real’s lead with a cracking solo effort six minutes later.
Vinicius Jr celebrates scoring his team’s winner [Florencia Tan Jun/Getty Images]
What happened in the corresponding fixture last season?
Julian Alvarez scored twice as Atletico Madrid came from behind to thrash city rivals Real Madrid 5-2 in a pulsating derby in September 2025.
Atletico’s aggressive start paid off when Robin Le Normand opened the scoring with a header in the 14th minute.
However, Kylian Mbappe burst through to level with an unstoppable strike from close range in a quick counter in the 25th minute, with Arda Guler netting a volley from a Vinicius Jr cross 11 minutes later to put the visitors in front.
Alexander Sorloth’s header in added time before the break gave Atletico a boost, and they regained the lead five minutes into the second half when Alvarez converted a penalty after Guler’s high boot clipped Nico Gonzalez on the face inside the box.
After Alvarez extended their lead in the 64th minute with a sublime free kick into the top corner, substitute Antoine Griezmann sealed the win in a quick counter in added time.
Alvarez scores Atletico’s third from the spot [Angel Martinez/Getty Images]
Atletico Madrid’s team news
Alvarez, Pablo Barrios, and Sorloth are doubts, as all three are struggling with muscle issues.
Jonathan David is likely to continue up front if Alvarez is absent or starts on the bench.
MADRID: Raphinha scored a hat trick as Barcelona earned yet another big win on Wednesday, routing Racing Santander 7-2 for its best-ever start to a season.
The Catalan club had never won seven games in a row. It has won six straight in the league and another in the Champions League.
Gabriel Jesus and Lamine Yamal also found the net for Barcelona, which has scored at least five goals in five of its seven matches across all competitions this season.
In the English League Cup, Manchester United was stunned 3-2 by Brighton after squandering a two-goal lead to crash out in round three.
In the Europa League, Benfica beat AC Milan 2-0 on the road in the first round of the league stage.
Barcelona and Raphinha stay red-hot in Spain
With his hat trick, Raphinha took his league-leading tally to nine goals in six matches. The Brazil forward has scored a goal in all but one game this season.
“Happy for the goals and for the victory, which is the most important thing,” Raphinha said. “The players have the hunger to always want more. It’s a mentality to always try to score more goals and to create more scoring opportunities.”
João Cancelo also scored for Barcelona, which was helped by an own-goal from Racing’s Asier Villalibre. Maguette Gueye and Yassir Zabiri scored for the visitors.
Barcelona has only failed to score fewer than four goals this season in a 2-0 win against Athletic Bilbao.
Barcelona had previously won six games in a row to start the season — in 1929-30, 1960-61 and 2018-19, the club said.
Yamal had a goal disallowed for offside, missed a penalty and hit the post before finally scoring late for Barcelona.
The La Liga champion has also crushed Elche, Rayo Vallecano and Valencia in the league, and Feyenoord in the Champions League.
Hansi Flick’s team has outscored opponents 33-7 in seven games across all competitions. Barcelona has a three-point league lead over Real Madrid, which won at Elche on Tuesday.
Barcelona goalkeeper Joan García was replaced by Wojciech Szczesny at halftime because of an apparent injury. Szczesny’s blunder led to a Racing goal after the goalkeeper tried to control the ball inside the area and was robbed in front of the net.
Atletico Madrid routed visiting Osasuna 4-0 with goals by Jonathan David, Lee Kang-In, Robin Le Normand and Álex Baena.
It was the second win in a row for Diego Simeone’s team, which moved to third. Osasuna has lost three in a row.
Sevilla jumped to fourth by winning 1-0 at Deportivo La Coruña with a second-half goal by Miguel Sierra. Sevilla has won two in a row. Deportivo stayed seventh.
The game between Levante and Athletic Bilbao was postponed because of heavy rain in the city of Valencia.
United upset by Brighton rally in League Cup
Manchester United was booed at Old Trafford after it fell to a third defeat of the season, and second in as many games following Sunday’s loss to Manchester City.
“We had the game exactly where we wanted it and let it get away from us in a big way,” United coach Michael Carrick told Sky Sports. “We can’t accept that as a group. I take responsibility for it.”
United led 2-0 after 10 minutes through goals from Shea Lacey and Mason Mount. But Brighton rallied with Charalampos Kostoulas pulling one back before halftime, and Pascal Gross and Maxim De Cuyper secured victory after the break.
Defeat means United has suffered elimination from the League Cup at the earliest stage for the second season in a row after being knocked out by fourth-tier Grimsby last year.
Benfica tops Milan as Europa League kicks off
Benfica beat AC Milan in the highlight match in the Europa League.
Dodi Lukébakio and Jakub Kaminski scored a goal in each half for the Portuguese club.
Sparta Prague won 4-1 at Ararat-Armenia for the round’s biggest victory.
Sunderland beat visiting AZ Alkmaar 1-0 in its first European match in more than seven decades. Lyon won 2-1 at Anderlecht, while Bayer Leverkusen defeated visiting Celje 2-0.
Celta Vigo’s winless start to the season reached seven matches after a 1-0 loss at Omonia.
MADRID: Carlos Espí scored in stoppage time after a nifty move by Jude Bellingham and an assist by Kylian Mbappé to help Real Madrid salvage a 3-2 win at Elche in the Spanish league after it relinquished a two-goal lead on Tuesday.
Bellingham used a neat long touch to get past an opponent near midfield and fed Mbappé in a breakaway into the area, and the France star quickly set up Espí’s close-range score to give Madrid the victory and move the Spanish powerhouse even on points with Barcelona. The defending champion can regain the lead when it hosts promoted Racing Santander on Wednesday.
“We went from having it easy to losing control,” Real Madrid coach José Mourinho said. “But in the difficulty of the moment, facing the pressure of losing points, the team reacted and won the match, which in the end is the most important thing. The good thing is that nobody gets bored when Real Madrid plays. The games are always fun.”
Madrid had taken the lead against Elche with an own-goal by goalkeeper Matías Dituro in the 25th after the ball ricocheted off him following a well-struck free kick taken by Arda Guler. Mbappé added to the lead by scoring from close range after an assist by Yan Diomande in the 33rd.
Abiel Osorio pulled the hosts closer with a header in the 71st and Fer Niño netted the equalizer in the 83rd.
There was a bit of a scare immediately after Mbappé scored as he stayed on the ground in visible pain, but he eventually returned to the field after being attended by Madrid doctors.
The goal moved him to seven goals in six league matches, one goal more than Lamine Yamal, Raphinha, Sergio Camello and Roberto Fernández.
Mbappé had scored a brace in Madrid’s 4-1 win against Rayo Vallecano in the previous round.
He had a goal disallowed for offside just before halftime on Tuesday.
Bellingham came into the match by replacing Guler in the 68th.
Madrid’s only league setback this season was at Real Betis two rounds ago.
Mbappé and Vinícius avoid T-shirt
Players from both clubs wore t-shirts showing words of support for Ceuta as they came onto the field before the match. But Madrid players Mbappé, Vinícius Júnior and Ibrahima Konaté wore the shirt only halfway down their chest, without pulling them down, and obscuring some of the words on it. Mbappé and Vinícius removed their shirts before they saluted the other players and the referees.
They had not immediately explained why they did that.
In July, tens of thousands of migrants breached the frontier between Spain’s North African territory of Ceuta and neighboring Morocco.
Valencia wins after shake-up
Valencia won 1-0 at Alaves to end a four-game losing streak and a winless start to the season.
The string of poor results had led to the firing of coach Carlos Corberán and soccer CEO Ron Gourlay this weekend. It then appointed Braulio Vázquez as its new sporting director and named B-team coach Óscar Sánchez as an interim manager.
Luis Rioja scored a 78th-minute winner for Valencia, which had been outscored 10-1 so far.
Valencia fans had been protesting and called players “mercenaries” after the 5-0 home loss to Barcelona. They have long called for the exit of owner Peter Lim.
Rayo Vallecano triumphs in Butarque again
Rayo Vallecano beat Espanyol 2-1 with first-half goals by Álvaro García and Adria Pedrosa in what may have been its last match before returning home to Vallecas Stadium.
It was Rayo’s third home game played at Butarque Stadium — which belongs to second-tier club Leganes — because of unsafe conditions at Vallecas. It also beat Racing Santander 3-2 and drew Alaves 1-1 at Butarque.
Roberto Fernández scored for Espanyol in the second half for his sixth goal in six matches.
