Barcelona vs. Real Madrid: Jose Mourinho's Referee Talk Is Embarrassing

Real Madrid manager Jose Mourinho's talk about the referee following his club's exit of the Copa del Rey to rivals Barcelona in the quarterfinal on Wednesday was embarrassing and uncalled for.

Per the BBC:

In apparent criticism of the referee, Mourinho said: "I heard [some players] say it was impossible to win here."

Real, who have won only one of the last 14 El Clasico encounters against Barca, dominated the first half but found themselves a goal down at the break—3-1 on aggregate—after Lionel Messi danced through their defence to find Pedro.

Madrid defender Alvaro Arbeloa did not think highly of the referee's job during the second leg of the quarterfinal tie.

"We were much better than Barcelona, we had a lot of opportunities but the referee lost it in the little details. We would have preferred it if the cards had been more evenly distributed."

Mourinho should be embarrassed by his comments toward the performance of the referee. Instead of complaining, he should instead find a way of beating Barcelona, who have dominated Mourinho throughout his career—especially during his tenure at Madrid.

The Portuguese manager is arguably the most brilliant coach in world football, but his criticism of referees after nearly every major loss, especially to Barca, is laughable and makes himself and Los Blancos look terrible.

What Mourinho should do is admit his players are nowhere near capable of beating Barcelona on a consistent basis, and that it's his fault for that because of his failed tactics and inability to bring in stronger defenders during transfer windows.

Barca centre-back Gerard Pique accurately stated after the second leg that Madrid also got some breaks from the referee, not just the Catalan club.

"The referee made mistakes in all senses, but he did the best he could. [Lassana] Diarra's play [in which he hacked Lionel Messi down having already been booked] was a clear sending-off."

Due to the intense nature of this rivalry, players on both sides are going to be physical and often cross the line with their tackles and antics.

Madrid, in many matches against Barcelona during Mourinho's tenure, could have had one and sometimes more players sent off for unneeded tackles. It's not like Madrid has played clean matches versus their rivals and have wrongly been red-carded numerous times.

What Mourinho must do is figure out a way to beat Barcelona consistently or his stay in the Spanish capital will end sooner rather than later.

If the club wants to win La Liga, the league cup and the Champions League, they will likely have to go through Barcelona, which is an opponent they cannot beat at the moment.

Mourinho cannot focus on the referees, because the greatest hurdle he must climb at Madrid is beating Barcelona, and it's a challenge he has mightily failed thus far.