José Mourinho expressed utter bewilderment following Real Madrid’s shocking 1-0 defeat to Real Betis on Friday, marking the coach’s first loss since his return to the Spanish top flight.
The breakthrough came in the 81st minute when substitute Troy Parrott put Betis ahead. The match then witnessed a dramatic finale, starting with Carlos Espí having a spectacular equalizer disallowed for offside, followed by Kylian Mbappé seeing a late penalty saved by goalkeeper Álvaro Valles in added time.
Despite ending the match in Seville with eight shots on target and an expected goals (xG) tally of 3.16, Madrid ultimately went home empty-handed.
This defeat marks the first time since the 2014-15 campaign that Madrid have lost one of their first four league matches.
“Sometimes you lose and you don’t know why,” Mourinho stated in his postmatch press conference. “Sometimes you lose and you don’t know how to explain it. We were very dominant, focused, we controlled absolutely everything, with a lot of attacking play, and a lot of chances.”
“If it was a draw we’d be frustrated, because we deserved more, so imagine with a defeat!”
Madrid’s coaching staff argued that Kylian Mbappé’s penalty should have been retaken, pointing out that Betis defender Marc Bartra appeared to be encroaching inside the penalty box when the forward took the spot kick.
“I haven’t seen [the incidents],” Mourinho said when asked about the penalty and Espí’s disallowed goal. “I haven’t watched them in the dressing room, so I can’t comment.”
“I might change my mind watching the game tomorrow, but my feeling from the bench is that I don’t know why we lost. I can’t find the justification, because the team played very well in every aspect. Individually too, I have nothing to criticize. We deserved to win clearly, but deserving doesn’t get you points.”
1:29
Why wasn’t Kylian Mbappé’s penalty retaken for Real Madrid?
Summer signing Espí has already proven crucial for Madrid this season, having scored a late winner against Espanyol, and he appeared to have salvaged a point at La Cartuja before his goal was controversially disallowed.
“A young player who comes on for 10 or 15 minutes and scores a great goal — even if it was offside — is an important player for us,” Mourinho added. “He did his job perfectly. He has immense potential and will only improve … I couldn’t be happier with him.”
Mourinho criticized his players for being “naive” in their failure to effectively influence the referee throughout the contest.
“The Betis players are cleverer than Real Madrid’s in that sense,” the coach remarked. “Madrid’s are naive … Betis players tried to impact the referee, but Madrid’s players, when something deserves a yellow card, they get straight back up … When you play teams with this mentality, it’s an important factor.”
As for the title race, rivals Barcelona will now have the opportunity to go three points clear of Madrid when they visit Valencia on Sunday.