It was targeted! Mourinho explodes at VAR after Madrid's shock Betis defeat
Jose Mourinho's honeymoon in Madrid is officially over, and he left La Cartuja pointing fingers at the officials.
Details: Real Madrid suffered their first defeat of the season, 1-0 away to Real Betis on Friday, with Troy Parrott scoring late before Alvaro Valles saved Kylian Mbappe's 93rd-minute penalty. Mourinho then unloaded: he claimed VAR either did not know the rules or chose to ignore them by not ordering a retake for Marc Bartra's alleged encroachment, and called Vinicius Junior's booking for approaching the referee targeted.
The defeat was packed with flashpoints: Carlos Espi's stunning bicycle kick equalizer was chalked off for a marginal offside spotted by La Liga's new sensor ball technology, and Mourinho himself was booked on the touchline. Spanish analysts, however, sided with referee Hernandez Hernandez on the penalty, noting Bartra was airborne and had not touched the ground inside the box when Mbappe struck it. The Portuguese also branded his own players naive for failing to get opponents booked, while footage of Vinicius walking past him without a handshake added spice to the fallout. Madrid stay stuck on nine points, with Barcelona already threatening to pull clear at the top.
It's worth noting that Betis rubbed salt in the wound with a cheeky social media post after the win, celebrating Parrott's winner and Valles' heroics in front of their home crowd.
Reminder: Mourinho on fire! Real Madrid boss unloads after first defeat of the season. VIDEO.
Miguel Solomons
Dailysports's expert
