Mourinho Huijsen red card comments came after Atletico Madrid’s 2-1 win, as the Real Madrid manager said he had not seen the incident

On Sunday, 20 September 2026 at the Riyadh Air Metropolitano in Madrid, Real Madrid manager Jose Mourinho told reporters he would not judge defender Dean Huijsen’s sending-off after Atletico Madrid beat Real Madrid 2-1, a Mourinho Huijsen red card exchange that sat beside a much sharper attack on the officials.

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Referee Miguel Ángel Ortiz Arias first booked Dean Huijsen early in the second half for pulling back Giuliano Simeone inside the box.

After a VAR check, Miguel Ángel Ortiz Arias upgraded the yellow to a red for a last-man foul. Alejandro Grimaldo scored the penalty in the 53rd minute. Jonathan David made it 2-0. Antonio Rüdiger headed a late consolation.

Asked about Dean Huijsen, Jose Mourinho declined a verdict. “As for Huijsen’s red card, I must confess I haven’t seen it yet,” Jose Mourinho said. “It happened too far away from me to make a judgment.” Spain’s refereeing committee later upheld the red.

Jose Mourinho saved his anger for two first-half challenges he said should have reduced Atletico Madrid to nine men.

He walked into the news conference with printed screenshots of Cristian Romero on Jude Bellingham and Lee Kang-in on Federico Valverde. “We can skip the press conference as the story of the game is here. They are two clear red cards,” Jose Mourinho said. “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 committee agreed Lee Kang-in should have been sent off. It did not treat Cristian Romero’s clash as a red after VAR had already swapped Jude Bellingham’s booking for a yellow to Cristian Romero.

Real Madrid said Federico Valverde suffered “severe trauma” to his left ankle and would have further tests.

The result ended Diego Simeone’s losing run against Jose Mourinho in La Liga derbies and lifted Atletico Madrid to second, five points behind Barcelona.

Real Madrid dropped to fourth, a second league defeat of Jose Mourinho’s second spell after a 1-0 loss to Real Betis. Real Madrid visit Villarreal at the Santiago Bernabéu after the international break.

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Jose Mourinho praised his players for fighting with ten men and said he wanted to believe the officiating errors were mistakes.