Jose Mourinho was furious with match official Daniele Chiffi after Roma’s 1-1 Serie A draw at Monza on Wednesday. Stephan El Shaarawy opened the scoring for Mourinho’s side but Luca Caldirola levelled it up before Chiffi sent off Roma right-back Zeki Celik in added time. Chiffi also booked Mourinho in the first half and the former Chelsea, Manchester United and Tottenham boss was left fuming at the match official.
‘This was the worst referee I have encountered in my entire career,’ Mourinho said. ‘Believe me, I have dealt with many bad referees. Usually, when I talk about referees, it is because they have a direct influence on the game. In this case, I don’t think that is true. But he is horrible, he makes no human connection with anyone, he has no empathy, he gives a red card to a player who slips because he is exhausted in the 96th minute.’
Monza boss Raffaele Palladino, who was also shown a yellow card by Chiffi, was not happy with the referee either. ‘We do not have the strength of other clubs who can say we don’t want this referee,’ Palladino said. ‘I stopped working 20-30 minutes from the end, because I knew he would give me a red card for anything. I really, badly wanted to say something, but I could not afford to be without my lads. This is why I left the field early, I didn’t even want to look at him.’
The result is a dent to Roma’s hopes of qualifying for the Champions League, with Mourinho’s team now seventh as they look to secure a top-four finish with five games left.