Mourinho admits Mbappe’s Real Madrid penalty was a marginal decision

Real Madrid manager Jose Mourinho has admitted that the penalty awarded to Kylian Mbappe against Racing Santander was a marginal decision, although he believes it had no bearing on the team’s 3-0 victory in La Liga.

Mbappe won the spot-kick during Sunday’s match against Racing Santander and converted it to help Real Madrid secure a comfortable win.

The decision prompted significant debate, with refereeing experts subsequently concluding that Mbappe should not have been awarded a penalty. The Spanish referees’ committee admitted earlier on Wednesday that the match official had made an error.

Mourinho was asked about the incident after Real Madrid’s Champions League match against Greek side AEK Athens on Wednesday.

“For me, it was a small penalty, I admit that,” Mourinho said. “If it had been given against me, I would not have been happy.”

The Real Madrid manager nevertheless played down the significance of the decision, arguing that his side would have won the match comfortably even without the spot-kick.

“This was a situation that had no impact on the points,” he said, in comments reported by AS. “Even if we had not been awarded the penalty, we would have won by three, four or five goals.

“If we had needed to score more, we would have done so, but the team did not want to continue scoring.”

Mourinho also praised Real Madrid’s decision to appoint Spanish tennis great Rafael Nadal to the club’s board of directors.

“I take my hat off to Real Madrid and to the great Rafa Nadal,” Mourinho said. “I think he is a big Real Madrid supporter, and he certainly has to be to join the board.

“But Rafa Nadal is Rafa Nadal, and as a coach I feel very proud to have him with us.”

Mourinho then joked that Nadal’s association with Real Madrid might affect his popularity among supporters of other clubs who admire the former world number one.

“I just hope that supporters of other clubs who love Nadal do not stop loving him because he is a Real Madrid supporter,” he added.