José Mourinho held up photographs of two unpunished challenges at his post-match press conference after Real Madrid lost the Madrid derby. Photos. Printed out. Held up to cameras. That's where we are with Mourinho in 2025 — and somehow it still isn't even close to his most unhinged moment.
Los Blancos fell to Atlético Madrid thanks to goals from Jonathan David and Alejandro Grimaldo, with the 63-year-old's ten-man side unable to respond. Rather than analysing the performance, Mourinho went straight for referee Miguel Ángel Ortiz Arias: "He isn't an international referee, which suggests he isn't exactly a top-tier official. The poor guy came here and couldn't handle the pressure."
Classic Mourinho. And it got us thinking — where does this rank?
The Greatest Hits
It started innocuously enough. A touchline sprint at Old Trafford as Porto manager, a finger to his lips. Then came Stamford Bridge in 2004: "I think I am a special one." Fifteen words that defined a career.
By 2005 he was being called "an enemy of football" by UEFA's refereeing chief Volker Roth, after Mourinho accused referee Anders Frisk of holding a half-time conversation with Barcelona coach Frank Rijkaard during a Champions League tie. Frisk received death threats and retired. Mourinho moved on.
Then there's the laundry basket. Banned from the touchline for Chelsea's Champions League quarter-final against Bayern Munich, Mourinho smuggled himself into Stamford Bridge hours before kickoff and hid in a kit hamper operated by kit man Stewart Bannister. "When he closed the box I couldn't breathe," he later admitted. "I was dying. I am serious." The man treated a UEFA ban like a puzzle to solve.
- The eye poke (2011): During a heated Spanish Super Cup clash, Mourinho reached into the Barcelona dugout and poked assistant coach Tito Vilanova in the eye. He was suspended two matches and later apologised, calling it a "negative image that stays forever."
- 'Specialist in failure' (2014): His feud with Arsène Wenger — which began when he called the Arsenal boss "a voyeur" in 2005 — peaked when Mourinho mocked eight years without a trophy: "He's a specialist in failure."
- Parking lot meltdown (2023): After Roma's Europa League final defeat to Sevilla, Mourinho intercepted the refereeing team in the stadium garage and demanded answers on a penalty decision. He later insisted he "didn't insult anyone." Howard Webb, apparently, confirmed it was a pen.
- Wearing a wire (2023): At Roma, Mourinho revealed he'd recorded his own conversations during a match against Monza, calling the referee "the worst I've ever encountered." His self-protection instinct had evolved into active surveillance.
- Laptop on the pitch (2024): At Fenerbahçe, he held a laptop screen showing a freeze-frame of a disallowed goal in front of a broadcast camera to contest an offside call. He was booked for it. Worth it, in his mind.
- Nose pinch (2025): During his time in Turkey, he appeared to pinch Galatasaray coach Okan Buruk on the nose following a cup defeat. Buruk hit the deck. Mourinho received a three-match ban.
What This Means Beyond the Headlines
The pattern here isn't chaos — it's control. Mourinho uses controversy the way other managers use training drills: deliberately, and with intent. Deflect attention from the performance. Make the story about something else. Keep his players shielded from scrutiny by absorbing it himself.
It worked brilliantly at Chelsea and Inter. It ran thin at United. At Real Madrid — in whatever version of this job he now holds — it's already getting old fast. A derby defeat with ten men is bad enough without the manager waving printed photographs at journalists.
Real Madrid's title odds won't be moved by a press conference stunt. They were beaten by a sharper, more organised Atlético side, and Mourinho's smoke screen doesn't change that. The photographs stayed in the press room. The result stayed in the table.
