Simeone's Atletico Madrid side had beaten Real Madrid 2-1 at the Metropolitano. Dean Huijsen was sent off for pulling back Giuliano Simeone, the coach's son, in the area, Alejandro Grimaldo scored the penalty in the 53rd minute, Jonathan David added a second in the 59th, and Antonio Rüdiger pulled one back for Real Madrid late on.
Mourinho then used his own press conference to argue that two Atlético players should have been sent off and to question the referee's experience.
Asked about that, Simeone did not single Mourinho out, naming a wider group of coaches that also included Hansi Flick and Manuel Pellegrini:
“We are respectful of what others think, we are in a privileged position in which we are all very exposed, any name, whether it is Simeone, Mourinho, Flick, Pellegrini... We need to be careful about what we say and know how to respect others. We all lose. But when someone steps outside that line of respect it is dangerous, no matter if you are called Mourinho, Flick or Simeone, not everything goes. That line must never be crossed.”
Mourinho's complaints centred on Cristian Romero and Kang-in Lee. On the sending-offs, Simeone said:
“I did not give an opinion on the other plays. The head of the referees already told us that this type of play like Cuti's was not a sending-off. Now if we want to dwell on that, fine, let's play. But we won the match.”
He also referred to a second-half moment involving Romero, Marcos Llorente and Yan Diomande, and said:
“It was an intense match, against an opponent with incredible transitions and we controlled almost all of them. In the second half, only that one where Cuti and Llorente collide and it leaves Diomande [in the clear]. I think we controlled at every moment through collective, defensive and group work and knowing where we could hurt them, and we are not going to stop highlighting the match because of those things they want to talk about.”
Asked about finishing ahead of Real Madrid before the international break, he singled out Koke, who started on the bench:
“It is nothing important or decisive, it is a positive for the team, we have been growing and we need everyone to stay involved, like Koke, a substitute who plays the match of his life even though his coach does not start him. That is Atlético de Madrid. We need to keep trying to improve.”
Simeone said Alavés are next, and he wants the same approach:
“We need the day-to-day, to approach Alavés with the same enthusiasm, not step outside the match-by-match approach and know what our search is and what our destination is.”