Jose Mourinho hit out at the VAR officials despite Real Madrid‘s late victory in Barcelona‘s back yard.
The Portuguese rolled back the years with an epic knee slide as Kylian Mbappe struck a late winner to cut the gap to three points behind Barcelona in La Liga.
His most iconic knee slide came 14 years ago when Cristiano Ronaldo sealed a 90th-minute comeback win against Manchester City in the Champions League.
And Mourinho – now 63 and sporting a grey beard – was on good form as Madrid won 2-1 thanks to Mbappe’s double.
But his press conference was dominated with his frustrations and he said: ‘The referee was great but the VAR was sleeping.
‘There was a clear red card for Cancelo on Diomande that would have changed the game.’
Jose Mourinho won his first El Clasico back at Real Madrid – but still ranted about VAR
He was outraged at Jose Cancelo’s apparent stamp on Yan Diomande – not long before Raphinha’s equaliser for Barcelona
But Mourinho celebrated Kylian Mbappe’s late winner with a knee slide, rolling back the years
Referee Juan Martínez Munuera had allowed play to continue but replays showed that Cancelo had effectively stamped on the forward. Minutes later, Raphinha equalised – and Barcelona had several chances to snatch a winner via him and Lamine Yamal.
Mourinho added: ‘In my view, Real Madrid do not play to win at the Camp Nou. Real Madrid play to win La Liga.
‘This must be the mentality. We need to continue like this and don’t go over the moon after this win.’
He is fast gaining momentum in his second spell in charge at the Santiago Bernabeu, with eight wins in their last nine games in all competitions.
Mbappe had put Madrid ahead going into half-time before Raphinha equalised, but the Ballon d’Or contender finished what he started in the 87th minute.
Barcelona defender Pau Cubarsi was at fault twice, accidentally knocking the ball to Mbappe for the first before being skinned by Yan Diomande for the second.
Mourinho was a tempestuous presence on the touchline all night, and had to be calmed down at one point by the referee.
But at full time he was a happy man and crossed the pitch to embrace deputy goalkeeper Andriy Lunin, standing in for Thibaut Courtois, who was ruled out with the flu.
Mbappe struck twice, capitalising on defensive errors from the La Liga leaders
Anthony Gordon and Jude Bellingham faced off against each other and played well
Despite his ferocious activity throughout the game, and his wild celebrations for Mbappe’s winner, he was a calm presence at the final whistle, sauntering around with his hands in his pockets.
Madrid have shattered Barcelona’s flawless start to the league season and edged ahead in the all-time El Clasico ledger.
They have won 107 derby games to Barcelona’s 106, having drawn 52.
Mourinho now has six wins, six draws, and six defeats in the fixture, which has been going since 1888.
England stars Jude Bellingham and Anthony Gordon both starred in Sunday night’s edition and put in strong displays, with the latter teeing up Raphinha for a great chance with a beautiful backheel in the first half.
Former Manchester City stars Rodri and Bernardo Silva played for the first time in Spanish football’s marquee fixture, while Ibrahima Konate, Marc Cucurella, and Dean Huijsen joined the ex-Premier League contingent.
Trent Alexander-Arnold was introduced as a substitute deep into added time.
Barcelona manager Hansi Flick felt his side were simply too jaded after four matches in 12 days and did not appear overly troubled by the defeat.
‘We were not playing at the highest level because of the (lack of) freshness,’ he said.
‘It’s not top for us but we have to accept it and defeats is part of the game. It’s the first defeat in 10 games.
‘We have a whole week before the next game to prepare and disconnect.’
