José Mourinho called into question the penalties awarded to Real Madrid‘s LaLiga rivals Barcelona and Atlético Madrid this weekend, joking with journalists about the lack of focus on the topic in a news conference on Monday.
Barcelona won 4-2 at Levante on Sunday, with Lamine Yamal converting a spot kick, while Atlético grabbed a 3-0 win at Real Sociedad after Alejandro Grimaldo opened the scoring from the penalty spot.
Yamal’s penalty came after the Ballon d’Or contender first appealed for a handball, before then going down under a challenge from defender Aïssa Mandi.
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Atlético’s game was goalless until the 84th minute, when they were awarded a penalty for substitute Job Ochieng’s handball, a decision disputed by Real Sociedad coach Pellegrino Matarazzo after the game.
“No questions about the penalties?” Mourinho said, as he ended his news conference ahead of Madrid’s match at Elche on Tuesday. “Strange, isn’t it?”
Last week, Mourinho queried the decision not to allow Kylian Mbappé to retake his missed penalty in Madrid’s defeat at Real Betis, a decision subsequently backed by Spain’s refereeing committee, the CTA, in its weekly review.
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Mourinho said he isn’t planning to rest any of Madrid’s star trio Mbappé, Jude Bellingham and Vinícius Júnior on Tuesday, despite a busy fixture list.
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“I have great faith in the players’ self-awareness,” Mourinho said. “We only have two days between matches, so it’s crucial to gauge how they’re feeling, listen to the medical staff and look at the training data, and then make a decision between today and tomorrow. But if I can, provided there are no issues, I’ll play them.”
Mourinho also praised Arda Güler, whose performance off the bench against Rayo Vallecano on Saturday has led to calls for the midfielder to become a guaranteed starter.
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“There are people better qualified than me to speak about his evolution, about how he’s changed physically,” Mourinho said.
“But for me, his quality is incredible: his vision, his decision-making, the stability he brings to the team’s play, and his creativity. He has fantastic potential … I don’t want to go so far as to say ‘top, top, top’ — three times — but certainly ‘top, top.'”
