The Madrid derby was barely cooling when José Mourinho dragged the old war back onto centre stage: referees, persecution, and Real Madrid against the world.
After Atlético Madrid’s win in the capital, Mourinho pointed a firm finger at Miguel Ángel Ortiz Arias. For him, the referee’s decisions shaped the game. For much of Spain’s media, it felt like a time machine.
On Cope’s “Tiempo de Juego”, journalist Paco González heard the familiar soundtrack and didn’t bother to hide his irritation. He acknowledged mistakes from Ortiz Arias. He also heard something else – the echo of Mourinho’s first spell at the Bernabéu.
“Mourinho has reappeared. I don't know how many years have passed since then. The blame for the defeat falls on the referee,” González fired, underlining how quickly the Portuguese had gone back to his old trench lines.
He did admit the coach had a case on several first-half incidents that, in his view, could have produced cards. But that was as far as his sympathy went.
Mourinho didn’t just question what happened during the 90 minutes. He questioned why Ortiz Arias was given the game at all, expressing surprise at the appointment itself. That line drew open mockery from González.
“I don't know if they've hired a scriptwriter for Real Madrid TV,” he said, skewering what he saw as a made-for-television narrative of grievance and conspiracy.
Then came the harsher verdict, aimed not at the referee or even at Mourinho, but at the club that brought him back. Real Madrid, González argued, “needed a modern coach, but hired a coach from 15 years ago.” Keep chasing referees, he warned, and the real issues – the team’s level, the tactical gaps, the reasons for defeat – slip quietly off the table.
The numbers add weight to the debate. This was Real Madrid’s second La Liga loss in the opening seven rounds, a start that sits uneasily with a club built on relentless domestic dominance. It also snaps the relative calm that had surrounded Mourinho since he returned, a period in which his tone had been noticeably more measured.
Now the old Mourinho is back in the headlines, the old arguments back in circulation. The question for Madrid is whether that noise will galvanise a squad under scrutiny – or simply drown out the conversation the club most needs to have.
