Luis García Plaza praises Mourinho and hits out at refereeing

Luis García Plaza, Sevilla’s head coach, heaped praise on José Mourinho ahead of this Sunday’s clash between Sevilla and Real Madrid, saying he has “very good” contact with the Portuguese that goes back years. “His record speaks for itself,” he said, recalling that when Mourinho visited Rome, local fans chanted his name and brought out a banner.

Mourinho and their connection

García Plaza added that Mourinho “puts a lot of character” into his teams, who compete “full on,” and claimed that quality is showing in this Madrid. He said he expects to greet Mourinho “as always” and have a quick talk about football.

Complaints after the Levante match

While he said he understands referees, he still criticised decisions that, in his view, hurt Sevilla in the recent game versus Levante. He pointed to a pattern, saying that across eight matches they have faced “70 minutes of stoppage time” when they were winning (except the day they drew with Rayo). He then listed three key episodes: Isaac’s red card, the moment Miguel Sierra suffered a “serious” injury, and a situation where the fourth official allowed a player in and Castrín was shown a yellow card, leaving him affected for the whole second half.

Handling pressure and focusing on football

García Plaza also said he won’t comment on what Real Madrid does with its television coverage, and argued that referees will always find a coach trying to help them but who should at some point focus on football. “We play 11 against 11,” he said, and added that he is not looking to judge Vinícius—then noted he won’t do the same for Osasuna next week.