Real Madrid dressing room left furious after Atletico loss: ‘They put a coward in charge’

Real Madrid dressing room left furious after Atletico loss: ‘They put a coward in charge’ Real Madrid endured a frustrating night at the Metropolitano, losing the derby 2-1 against their city rivals under controversial circumstances. Los Blancos were reduced to 10 men in the second half after Dean Huijsen was given a red card for a last-man challenge. Real Madrid’s frustration extended well beyond Mourinho’s explosive press conference , with the dressing room reportedly furious over the refereeing at the Metropolitano. According to AS , emotions were running so high after the derby that Madrid decided not to send any player to speak to the media. Madrid dressing room erupts after derby The club feared that, given the mood inside the dressing room, whoever appeared could say something that resulted in disciplinary action. “They’ve really screwed us over! They put a coward in charge of refereeing,” was one furious comment heard inside the Madrid dressing room after the final whistle. Jose Mourinho appeared in front of the media after the controversial Madrid derby. (Photo by Mateo Villalba Sanchez/Getty Images) The anger centred largely on challenges involving Cuti Romero and Kang-in Lee, which Madrid believed should both have resulted in red cards. Romero caught Jude Bellingham with a stamp, while Kang-in’s challenge on Fede Valverde went unpunished. Valverde was later revealed to have been injured from that challenge and is set to miss two to three weeks of footballing action. Madrid were also unhappy with two early challenges from Alex Baena on Arda Guler which, in their view, could have resulted in yellow cards. Real Madrid decided against player interviews The report says Madrid’s players were so incensed that the club intervened rather than risk allowing those emotions to spill into public comments. Even though Mourinho was explosive in his presser, he was aware enough of the words he was using. The Portuguese coach brought images of the Romero and Kang-in incidents into his press conference, using them instead of words to drive home his point. Tensions had already boiled over at half-time. Antonio Rudiger and Morten Hjulmand were involved in an altercation in the tunnel, while Atletico goalkeeping coach Pablo Vercellone and Mourinho assistant Pedro Machado were sent off. Diego Simeone secured yet another victory over Real Madrid at the Metropolitano. (Photo by Juan Manuel Serrano Arce/Getty Images) Inside Madrid, there is also unhappiness about decisions in other matches involving their title rivals, including incidents from Atletico’s game against Osasuna and Barcelona’s meeting with Levante. All this means Los Blancos find themselves six points behind Barcelona heading into the first international break. There is a lot of room for improvement for Mourinho’s side, and players like Vinicius Junior really need to pull their socks up. If Madrid do not fix up soon, Barcelona could run away with the La Liga title, and it remains to be seen how the team play once club football resumes.