Dean Huijsen was sent off early in the second half for Los Blancos before Alejandro Grimaldo and Jonathan David’s goals earned Diego Simeone’s Atletico victory, with Antonio Rudiger pulling one back late on.
Atletico rose to second, five points behind Barca and one ahead of Real Madrid, fourth, who chalked up a second defeat of the campaign.
Real Betis rose to third despite being held 1-1 at Deportivo La Coruna, while Villarreal beat Levante 3-1.
The Madrid derby hinged on Huijsen’s red card early in the second period, for pulling down Giuliano Simeone in the box which led to a penalty, tucked away by Grimaldo to set Atletico on their way.
Real Madrid were unhappy about challenges from Cristian Romero and Lee Kang-in in the first half which Mourinho said should have been red cards.
“They were two clear red cards… the difficulty we had after (Huijsen’s red) with 11 (players) against 10, well imagine 50 minutes with 11 against nine,” Mourinho grumbled.
“There are no miracles in football,” he continued. “11 against nine, well we can imagine how that would have finished.”
Atletico coach Simeone disagreed with Mourinho’s approach.
“We have to know how to respect others, referees, colleagues,” he told reporters.
“When one crosses that line of respect… even if your name is Mourinho, or Simeone, (or other coaches), it doesn’t fly. You can’t cross that line.”
Atletico midfielder Koke said the victory proved his side are capable of winning trophies.
“We can compete against every team if we give 100 percent,” explained Koke.
“(Real) Madrid are one of the best in the world and today we showed that.”
Mourinho started with Aurelien Tchouameni in midfield over Bernardo Silva, opting for defensive clout over creativity.
There was more tension than footballing quality in the first half, with neither side capable of creating any clear chances.
The main talking point was an incident between Jude Bellingham and Atletico defender Romero.
The England international threw himself into a tackle and Romero trod on his leg, and after a VAR review was booked, Madrid wanted a red card.
Madrid were also unhappy with a heavy tackle by Lee on Federico Valverde, which went unpunished just before half-time.
It was a scrappy battle, intense but lacking excitement comparative to the star power on the pitch, especially in Madrid’s front line, with Vinicius Junior, Kylian Mbappe and Bellingham kept quiet.
The game burst into life early in the second half when Huijsen pulled back Giuliano Simeone’s arm as the forward ran through on goal and Atletico were awarded a penalty.
Huijsen was dismissed after a VAR review and Grimaldo beat Madrid goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois from the penalty spot.
Mourinho reacted immediately by replacing the underwhelming Vinicius and Arda Guler and sending on club record signing Yan Diomande and Rudiger.
It was Atletico who struck next, though, with Canada international David tucking away Giuliano Simeone’s raking low cross on 59 minutes for his third goal in three matches.
The hosts came close to getting a third but Courtois made an excellent save to deny Julian Alvarez and Ibrahima Konate headed Grimaldo’s attempt off the line.
Atletico goalkeeper Jan Oblak saved from Diomande and Bellingham rowed with Giuliano Simeone as Madrid’s frustrations showed, impotent to change the course of the game.
Madrid pulled a goal back in the final stages with Rudiger heading Silva’s cross past Oblak. However, it was too little too late.
“It wasn’t a clean sheet, which is a shame, we had quite a good game but we left them a chance,” said Oblak.
“It was important to win, but La Liga is very long.” (AFP)
