Jose Mourinho was sent off in the second half of Roma’s defeat against Atalanta on Sunday after storming onto the pitch to protest.
Mourinho was absolutely furious after the referee in the Serie A clash decided not to award Roma a penalty in the 55th minute. The Roma boss thought Nicolo Zaniolo was fouled by Atalanta defender Caleb Okoli inside the box, but the decision went the opposite way – much to the annoyance of the Roma players and manager.
After the home players had surrounded the referee, Mourinho was seen running onto the pitch waving his arms around in anger. As the referee ran over with the red card ready, he retreated slightly but had to be restrained by a member of Roma staff as he went red in the face.
Eventually he gave up his protests and made his way to the stands, still boiling over with rage. Mourinho’s mood wouldn’t improve after the final whistle, either, with Roma suffering a 1-0 defeat at the Stadio Olimpico thanks to Giorgio Scalvini’s first-half goal.
The victory sent Atalanta top of Serie A with their fifth win from seven league games, while Mourinho’s Roma are sixth. Ironically, Mourinho’s trademark meltdown came shortly after he said “there’s no point crying” about Roma’s current injury problems.
The home side were without star striker Paulo Dybala, who pulled out in the warm-up with a left flexor issue, and Rick Karsdorp, who has to undergo surgery for a torn meniscus in his left knee.
“The squad is in the best shape possible. We were fortunate really to play against 10 men for almost the whole game on Thursday, as that requires less intensity, pressing and running,” Mourinho told DAZN pre-match.
“Some played for 90 minutes against HJK, some hardly at all. It is always difficult against Atalanta, they are very good at playing their game and making it difficult for the opposition.
“It’s tough, but this is football, with the transfer window closed there’s no point crying about it now. We have Nicola Zalewski back, he can play on the right too.
“The season is made up of lots of little problems to deal with, the really big one was Wijnaldum, but Rick will be back in at most two months.”
Mourinho is of course no stranger to controversy with referees. Back in February he was sent off in the closing stages of a 2-2 draw with Hellas Verona after a customary outburst at the referee.
His reputation as a hot-head has followed him throughout his career, which has taken him from Portugal, to Italy, England and Spain. (Mirror)
