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Real Madrid<\/a>\u2019s 2-1 defeat at Atl\u00e9tico Madrid on Sunday has left Jos\u00e9 Mourinho\u2019s side fourth in La Liga<\/a> after seven matches, six points behind leaders Barcelona, according to The Athletic. The result has reignited the club\u2019s long-running dispute with Spanish referees while also surfacing renewed concern inside the club about the team\u2019s football.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n The game turned at 0-0 when Dean Huijsen fouled Giuliano Simeone in the box, with Alejandro Grimaldo converting the resulting penalty before Huijsen was sent off. Mourinho arrived at his post-match press conference armed with a printout of two Atl\u00e9tico incidents \u2013 Cristian Romero\u2019s challenge on Jude Bellingham and Lee Kang-in\u2019s on Federico Valverde \u2013 which he argued should also have produced red cards.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Real Madrid TV followed the coach\u2019s lead in criticising the officiating, and an official club statement took aim at La Liga president Javier Tebas for intervening in defence of Spanish referees. Days later, the Spanish FA\u2019s refereeing committee said Lee should have been dismissed for his challenge on Valverde, while ruling that Romero\u2019s yellow card and Huijsen\u2019s red card had both been correctly given.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Beneath the officiating row, club sources cited by The Athletic pointed to something more familiar: a lack of control in midfield and an attitude among players that echoed last season\u2019s struggles. One source close to a first-teamer called the Atl\u00e9tico performance a disaster precisely because nothing had changed, while another suggested the problem with the football mattered more than any problem with referees.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Publicly, Mourinho and the club\u2019s messaging stayed fixed on the officiating. Privately, though, The Athletic reports that Mourinho and his staff acknowledged the need for self-criticism, with sources close to the coach expressing confidence that Madrid can close the gap on Barcelona over the course of a long league season.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n