Real Madrid Suffers First Loss Under Mourinho After Controversial Penalty Incident

Real Madrid’s unbeaten start under Jose Mourinho is gone, and it disappeared in a storm of penalty-box arguments and slow-motion replays.

On a tense night against Real Betis, Los Verdiblancos struck late, leaving Madrid staring at their first defeat of the season and needing two goals in the final ten minutes to rescue it. They almost had a lifeline at the death.

Vinicius Jr. drove into the box in stoppage time and won a penalty, handing the visitors exactly what they wanted: a clean shot to level the game and keep the Mourinho run alive. Kylian Mbappé stepped up. The script felt obvious.

It wasn’t.

Alvaro Valles guessed right and saved Mbappé’s effort cleanly. But the focus snapped almost immediately to Marc Bartra, who appeared to encroach into the area before the Frenchman struck the ball. Screenshots flew, angles were dissected, and the debate started: should the penalty have been retaken?

The rulebook steps in

According to reporting from Spanish outlet Mundo Deportivo, the refereeing committee CTA has reviewed the incident and backs the on-field decision: no retake, no second chance.

Their stance leans on two key frameworks that guide officials – the IFAB Laws of the Game and the CTA’s own CARD manual.

Under IFAB regulations, a penalty must be retaken for defensive encroachment only if the encroaching player directly impacts the taker, plays the ball, or challenges an opponent. It’s not enough just to be inside the area early; there has to be a clear footballing consequence.

The laws also clarify a more technical detail: if a player is in the air, as Bartra was, their position is judged by where their feet would be projected to land if they were on the ground. That clause, though, only applies when the entire body is airborne.

The CTA’s CARD manual mirrors that logic. It states that a retake is required only when an encroaching defender directly affects the taker, makes a play for the ball, or challenges an attacking player after the kick.

Why Mbappé didn’t get a second chance

Applied to this incident, the criteria are blunt.

For Mbappé’s penalty to be taken again, Bartra’s early movement would have needed to influence the shot, interfere with any attempt at a rebound, or involve a challenge on a Real Madrid player. None of that happened.

Bartra didn’t touch the ball immediately after the save. He didn’t block Mbappé, didn’t collide with a Madrid attacker, and didn’t prevent a follow-up effort. His positioning looked ugly in still images, but the laws demand more than optics.

From the CTA’s perspective, there was no direct impact on the outcome of the kick or the rebound phase. On that basis, the officials’ decision to let play continue stands as correct under both IFAB and CARD guidelines.

Real Madrid walk away with their first loss of the Mourinho era and a sense of grievance that will linger. The rulebooks, though, are clear. The whistle wasn’t the problem. The finish was.