Mourinho questions penalty call after Real Madrid loss to Betis

Jose Mourinho pointed straight at the officials after Real Madrid's 1-0 defeat to Real Betis, questioning why a penalty decision that went against his side was not sent back for a second look.

The defeat, sealed by Alvaro Valles’s stoppage-time save from a Kylian Mbappé penalty and a late Troy Parrott strike, left Madrid reeling. Mbappé, questioned afterwards over his defensive work rate and compared to forwards such as Ousmane Dembélé and Raphinha, insisted he contributes in ways that do not show up on the scoresheet. He acknowledged the team as a whole needs to improve without the ball.

Real Madrid now turn to Europe. Mourinho's side host Inter Milan at the Santiago Bernabeu on Tuesday to open their Champions League campaign, a fixture complicated by several absences from his squad and a mixed run of form.

Inter arrive with their head coach, Cristian Chivu. He played under Mourinho at Inter between 2008 and 2010, a spell that ended with the club winning the Champions League at the very same Bernabeu in 2010. He credited Mourinho with helping him through a difficult period of his life and praised his ability to get inside a squad and pass on his mentality, while making clear he has never modelled his own coaching on anyone, Mourinho included.

Asked to assess Mourinho's return to Real Madrid, Chivu said it was too early to draw conclusions, describing a fairly balanced start that included what he felt was an undeserved defeat last time out.