Real Madrid issue extraordinary public complaint to La Liga over 'abysmal' Madrid derby incidents

Real Madrid have issued a public complaint to La Liga after they lost 2-1 to Atletico Madrid at the Wanda Metropolitano.

Goals from Alejandro Grimaldo and Jonathan David put Diego Simeone's side in a commanding position in the second half, before Antonio Rudiger scored a consolation late on to make it 2-1.

Real played most of the second half with 10 players after Dean Huijsen was sent off, while there was controversy over the referee's decision not to award Atletico's Lee Kang-in a red card for an ankle-high challenge on Federico Valverde. Unsurprisingly, both Real and their manager Jose Mourinho have not reacted well.

'Abysmal refereeing...' - Real Madrid statement on Atletico defeat

The beginning of Real's official match report on the defeat addresses what they describe as the 'abysmal' refereeing of Ortiz Arias, who was the official in the middle at the Wanda Metropolitano.

"Real Madrid lost a derby at the Metropolitano marred by the abysmal refereeing of Miguel Angel Ortiz Arias, who failed to send off Cuti Romero for stepping on Bellingham's knee (despite reviewing the play on the monitor) and Kang-in Lee for stepping on Valverde's left ankle.

"Both decisions proved decisive and the match was ultimately decided in the second half in Atletico's favour."

Their post on Twitter (X) after full-time read: "A terrible refereeing decision decides the derby."

Romero, who was sent off six times during his career at Tottenham Hotspur, received a yellow card for his tackle on Bellingham after a VAR check. Lee was not booked.

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Jose Mourinho halts post-match press conference to complain about referee

Huijsen was originally shown a yellow card for the denial of a clear goalscoring opportunity, with the initial contact with Giuliano Simeone deemed to have taken place inside the penalty area.

But VAR sent Ortiz to the monitor and he decided that the contact took place outside the area, with Huijsen's yellow card therefore upgraded to a straight red and a free kick awarded instead.

When speaking about the incident, Mourinho pulled out from underneath his desk two photos that showed still images of Lee's tackle on Valverde, and Romero's tackle on Bellingham.

"The history of the game is here," Mourinho said, pointing to the photos.

He then launched into a verbal tirade over the general performance of Ortiz Arias, who officiated Barcelona's 2-0 win over Athletic Bilbao last month, and refereeing decisions in La Liga this season.

Mourinho stated (via ESPN): "It's all been very strange. It's a referee who, at 41, doesn't have international experience. I don't know why he was the referee. The poor guy came here and couldn't cope with the pressure."

"Let's talk about what's been happening in the last few weeks," he went on to add.

"They ruled out a clear goal for Osasuna versus Atletico. They gave Atleti a ridiculous penalty at San Sebastian. They gave a ridiculous penalty to Barcelona. They did not give a clear red card to Barcelona versus Athletic Bilbao. Against Elche, two of their players should have been sent off against us. Nothing. Just let us compete.

"I don't want to say this was prepared. I want to think they're mistakes, like a coach makes mistakes. I want to think the CTA [referee's committee] made a mistake and picked a referee of 41, who's never been in this situation. They made a mistake, that's all."

Real Madrid TV, meanwhile, announced that they would not be producing any analysis of the 2-1 defeat, and instead focused entirely on the performance of the referee - before accusing La Liga of being biased against them.

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When asked about Mourinho's comments, Atletico boss Simeone replied: "Sometimes things go your way and sometimes they don't. You cannot lose the referees' respect. Not everything you say goes, no matter how much of a big name you are, like Mourinho is."