Real Madrid manager José Mourinho accused Spanish football authorities of disrespect and questioned their fixture scheduling after his side came from 3-1 down to beat Roma 4-3 on 14 October.
Speaking at Rome’s Olympic Stadium after the Champions League match, Mourinho first complained about the timing of a ban on Vinicius Junior. The Brazilian forward’s four-match domestic suspension was announced about two hours before kick-off. Mourinho called the timing shameless and said it showed, at the very least, a lack of respect. Reports said the ban followed an incident in a recent league match in which Vinicius pulled an opponent’s hair. It rules him out of a run of La Liga games that includes a Clasico against Barcelona, who lead Madrid by six points.
The manager then turned to the calendar. Madrid play AEK Athens in Greece on Wednesday, 4 November, then travel to Valencia for a La Liga match on Saturday, 7 November, the weekend before the international break. Mourinho said the team would probably land in Madrid around 5am after the Athens game. He said asking them to play a very difficult match in Valencia three days later made no sense. “It doesn’t seem innocent to me,” he said.
He rejected television scheduling as an explanation. He said such excuses might have worked decades ago but no longer hold.
Spanish football authorities had not publicly responded to his remarks by the time of writing.
The win itself was dramatic. Roma led 1-0 after 20 minutes, and Madrid equalised five minutes later. Goals in the 51st and 57th minutes put the home side 3-1 up. Madrid then scored three times in the last seven minutes, in the 83rd, 85th and 90th minutes, with substitutes Endrick and Carlos Espi among the scorers.
Mourinho took responsibility for a poor first half and gave his players the credit for the second. He said he would not pretend he had planned the comeback, but he had believed his substitutions in the final 20 minutes could change the game.
The result gives Madrid six points from their opening two Champions League games, after a 2-1 home win over Inter Milan on 8 September. Mourinho described that as half the road to qualification. Madrid host RB Leipzig in the competition on 21 October.
