José Mourinho celebrates Real Madrid’s important win over Barcelona, but does not hold back his criticism of VAR. The Portuguese coach praised backup goalkeeper Andriy Lunin’s performance and emphasized the strength of the squad, while disputing the decision not to send off João Cancelo for his challenge on Diomande.
José Mourinho savored to the fullest Real Madrid’s success on Barcelona’s pitch, a result of great weight in the La Liga title race. After the celebration on the field of Kylian Mbappé’s decisive goal, the Portuguese coach also drew attention at the post-match press conference, where irony and controversy were plentiful.
Known for his cutting remarks, Mourinho pointed out that journalists had not asked about Andriy Lunin’s performance, who came on in place of the injured Thibaut Courtois.
“You have already asked me two questions and neither was about Lunin. But if we had lost this match because of Lunin’s mistakes, the first or second question would surely have been about him. The only thing I told Lunin before the match was: ‘You train to play, not to sit on the bench. Go out there and play.’ He played a match with great balance and calm”, Mourinho said.
Despite his satisfaction with the three points, Mourinho did not spare criticism of the officiating. This time, the Portuguese coach gave a positive assessment of the referee, but pointed from the VAR room at an incident that, in his view, should have been punished with a red card.
“It is a great win for the boys, against a great opponent. The referee had a very good match, but VAR fell asleep in the 60th minute, on a decision that could have had an extraordinary impact on the match.
For me, it was a clear red card for Cancelo’s challenge on Diomande. Nevertheless, this was a big match and a great win. The boys deserve it”, the Portuguese coach concluded.