Off the PitchSky SportsUnverified source· 21 Sept 2026
Atletico Madrid hit back at Mourinho over referee rant
Atletico Madrid have responded to Jose Mourinho's referee criticism with a social media campaign against referee harassment.


Atletico Madrid
team
Who
Atletico Madrid
What
Responded to Mourinho's criticism
When
Monday
Where
X (Twitter)
What happened. Atletico Madrid posted on X on Monday hitting back at Real Madrid boss Jose Mourinho after he criticised referees following Sunday's derby. Mourinho held up pictures of two incidents he believed should have been red cards in his post-match press conference.
- Mourinho accused officials of key errors in Real's 2-1 defeat.
- Atletico's first post showed a paper being printed with '#StopAcosoArbitalYA'.
- A second post showed Mourinho at the news conference with the same message.
“We could skip the press conference because the story of the match is right here.”
— Jose Mourinho
The spat adds spice to the Madrid derby rivalry, with Atletico making a public stand against referee harassment.
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Mourinho printer post deepens Atlético-Real Madrid referee row

The Guardian
Paper trail of protests: José Mourinho plays the hits in Madrid derby defeat | Sid Lowe

Mirror Football
Real Madrid issue furious statement amid extraordinary Jose Mourinho ref rant after derby defeat

BBC Sport
Mourinho prints out 'red card' incidents after Real lose derby

