Jose Mourinho has admitted he couldn’t find an explanation for Real Madrid’s 1-0 defeat at Real Betis, after his side dominated the game but failed to take their chances in his first La Liga loss since returning to the club.
Irishman Troy Parrott scored the only goal in the 81st minute before a frantic finish in Seville. Carlos Espi thought he had equalised with a spectacular effort, only for the goal to be ruled out for offside, while Kylian Mbappe saw his stoppage-time penalty saved by Alvaro Valles.
Madrid finished with eight shots on target and an expected goals figure of 3.16 but left without a goal or a point. The defeat means they have lost one of their first four league games for the first time since the 2014-15 season.
“Sometimes you lose and you don’t know why,” Mourinho said. “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 questioned whether Mbappe’s penalty should have been retaken after Marc Bartra appeared to encroach into the area before the kick was taken. Mourinho said he had not reviewed the key incidents and would not offer a judgement.
“I haven’t seen them,” he said. “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 criticise. We deserved to win clearly, but deserving doesn’t get you points.”
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Espi was again involved in the late drama after making an impact in his limited time on the pitch. The summer signing had previously scored a late winner against Espanyol and appeared to have rescued Madrid with his effort against Betis.
Mourinho defended the youngster despite the offside decision.
“A kid who plays 10 or 15 minutes and scores a great goal – it might be offside – but he’s an important player for us,” he said. “He did his job very well. He’s a kid with great potential and he’ll improve. I couldn’t be happier with him.”
The Madrid manager, however, appeared to criticise his players for what he described as a lack of experience in dealing with the referee. He said Betis had been more effective at putting pressure on the officials during the match.
“The Betis players are cleverer than Real Madrid’s in that sense,” Mourinho said. “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.”
