José Mourinho said he couldn’t explain Real Madrid‘s 1-0 defeat at Real Betis on Friday, in the coach’s first loss since returning to LaLiga.
Substitute Troy Parrott put Betis ahead in the 81st minute, before a dramatic finale saw first Carlos Espí have a spectacular equalizer disallowed for offside, and then Kylian Mbappé have a penalty saved by keeper Álvaro Valles in added time.
Madrid ended the game in Seville with eight shots on target, and an expected goals (xG) of 3.16, but went home empty-handed.
It’s the first time that Madrid have lost one of their first four leagues games since the 2014-15 season.
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“Sometimes you lose and you don’t know why,” Mourinho said in his postmatch news conference. “Sometimes you lose and you don’t know how to explain it. We were very dominant, focused, we controlled absolutely everything, with a lot of attacking play, and a lot of chances.
“If it was a draw we’d be frustrated, because we deserved more, so imagine with a defeat!”
Madrid argued that Mbappé’s penalty should have been retaken, as Betis defender Marc Bartra appeared to be encroaching inside the box when the forward took the spot kick.
“I haven’t seen [the incidents],” Mourinho said, when asked about the penalty, and Espí’s disallowed goal. “I haven’t watched them in the dressing room, so I can’t comment.
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“I might change my mind watching the game tomorrow, but my feeling from the bench is that I don’t know why we lost. I can’t find the justification, because the team played very well in every aspect. Individually too, I have nothing to criticize. We deserved to win clearly, but deserving doesn’t get you points.”
Summer signing Espí has already proved crucial for Madrid this season, scoring a late winner at Espanyol, and appeared to have salvaged a point at La Cartuja before his goal was disallowed.
“A kid who plays 10 or 15 minutes and scores a great goal — it might be offside — but he’s an important player for us,” Mourinho said. “He did his job very well. He’s a kid with great potential and he’ll improve … I couldn’t be happier with him.”
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Mourinho said his players had been “naive” in failing to influence the referee throughout the contest.
“The Betis players are cleverer than Real Madrid’s in that sense,” the coach said. “Madrid’s are naive … Betis players tried to impact the referee, but Madrid’s players, when something deserves a yellow card, they get straight back up … When you play teams with this mentality, it’s an important factor.”
Rivals Barcelona will now have the chance to go three points clear of Madrid when they visit Valencia on Sunday.
