Mourinho says Tebas has no excuse for Goebbels comparison

José Mourinho has rejected the idea that Javier Tebas should apologise for comparing Real Madrid’s media methods with those of Nazi propaganda minister Joseph Goebbels. The Real Madrid coach said Tebas could be excused only if he were “a clinical case”; otherwise, he said, there was no excuse.

Mourinho made the remarks at a news conference before Real Madrid’s match against Sevilla. He said he did not want to discuss the dispute at length, adding: “You already know my opinion.” His response leaves no sign that he considers an apology sufficient to close the matter.

The row began with comments from Liga president Tebas on September 22, two days after Atlético Madrid beat Real Madrid 2-1 in the Madrid derby. Tebas was criticising El Debate for publishing reports based on sources close to Real Madrid, arguing that the newspaper’s coverage lacked distance from the club’s leadership.

He said the methods he objected to—repeating a message, creating an enemy and placing a narrative ahead of facts—resembled techniques used by Goebbels. Tebas explicitly limited the comparison to propaganda methods, not Nazi ideology or Real Madrid supporters. That distinction is central to the dispute: Tebas described a style of communication, while Mourinho says the comparison crossed a line that cannot be excused without a clinical condition.

The derby had already brought controversy. Real Madrid defender Dean Huijsen was sent off, and Mourinho complained about challenges by Cristian Romero and Kang-in Lee on Jude Bellingham and Federico Valverde, respectively, which he felt should also have resulted in red cards.

Mourinho said Real Madrid supporters knew what they were facing, but urged the parties to keep the dispute within Spain. He argued that taking the row abroad could harm La Liga’s prestige and pointed to Real Madrid’s status as reigning world champions. That makes his response more than a personal rebuke: it turns Tebas’s criticism of the club’s media allies into a public clash between the league president and the Madrid coach, with Mourinho placing the league’s international reputation at stake.