Real Madrid’s coach, Jose Mourinho, has criticised the match officials, after his side were beaten 1-0 away to Real Betis on Saturday. Although it was the hosts, who scored the only goal of the game, Benzema saw his goal ruled out for offside incorrectly and Madrid were denied a late penalty.
However, Mourinho was full of praise for the efforts and commitment of the home side.
“After a difficult week and some conflict with his players, the Betis fans have helped [coach Pepe Mel’s] team win,” Mourinho told reporters after the match.
“I’ve congratulated the Betis players because they left everything on the pitch and fought with a spirit of sacrifice.
“[The referee] was hugely at fault for a wrongly disallowed Benzema goal and a clear penalty in the closing minutes. But [Betis] deserve my respect because they outplayed Real Madrid.”
Speaking on his side’s performance, the 49-year-old admitted they did not play well.
“We started well, but only a little bit better than we played for the rest of the game,” the former Inter Milan boss said.
Mourinho also went on to blame the fixtures calender and his players’ fitness, although he insisted he does not like to complain when he loses.
“I try to be fair and objective, and when my team lose, I do not seek excuses or blame other things,” he explained. “Obviously a team that played on Wednesday should not have to play today. Obviously there are other teams that have control of the match calendar, which we don’t have, but we are talking about top professionals and you have to take into account mental toughness, ambition and spirit.
“A player of 23 or 24 years should be able to play two games in four days. As always, because I speak out, and I’m the only one who has spoken out, I’ll be the bad guy.”
Mourinho continued: “When we win, we all win, but when we lose, the coach loses. Why is it my fault?
“It’s possible that we could finish this year 11, 13 or nine points behind Barcelona. The Liga race is still open but we’re neither optimistic nor pessimistic. I can’t focus on a single competition.”
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