“A different galaxy”
Everyone saw this one coming.
Javier Tebas lit the fuse. After Real Madrid’s 2-1 derby loss to Atletico on Sunday, the LaLiga president went after Jose Mourinho and the club with a line built to provoke: “To claim that the referees are against Real Madrid is to live in a different galaxy.” The refereeing complaints, he added, were “an alibi to hide other shortcomings already obvious in these first matches of the season.”
Translation: fix your own team.
That didn’t go down well at Valdebebas.
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“Not the owner of the competition”
Real answered on Tuesday with an official statement, and it was blunt. The club called it “unacceptable” for the head of LaLiga to use his institutional position to “disparage and attack” them, describing a “repeated” obsession and an outburst “unworthy of an official.” Tebas passing judgement on the club’s sporting strategy? “Utterly absurd and irresponsible.”
The sharpest part came near the end. Spanish professional football, Real said, has “an urgent need for a leader able to run it” who respects “the basic duty of neutrality.” LaLiga’s president is “not the owner of the competition,” they wrote, but an administrator whose job is to serve the clubs.
They never wrote his name. They didn’t have to.
A convenient target for Mourinho’s Real?
Losing the derby has put Mourinho’s side under the microscope, and Madrid have steered the conversation toward referees and the league’s leadership. Tebas keeps pulling it back to the pitch. These two have been at war for years, but this round escalated in about 48 hours.
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