Jose Mourinho rages at new Real Madrid man to remind him of new LaLiga law

Aug 23, 2026 - 14:00

Jose Mourinho was forced to run off the Real Madrid bench to remind Denzel Dumfries of a new LaLiga law for this season.

The Madrid boss was unhappy that the new signing from Inter Milan was taking too long over a throw-in against Espanyol.

View Tweet: https://t.co/hPF8PHC2XZ

That’s because under new LaLiga laws, and something now widely implemented in the game, players have just five seconds to take a throw in.

The referee can turn possession over to the opposition should this happen.

Dumfries was taking his time and Mourinho was quick to remind him of this before the referee took action.

Madrid ended up winning 2-1 thanks to an early goal from Jude Bellingham and a late winner from Carlos Espi.

IFAB five-second countdown law

This protocol relates to the five-second countdown in Laws 15 and 16 to prevent time-wasting and disruption to the tempo of the match at throw-ins and goal kicks. If the time limit is exceeded, the restart is taken by the opposing team.

Procedure:

When the referee determines that a throw-in/goal kick is being deliberately delayed by the team taking the restart:

The referee may use their whistle and/or voice to indicate that the player should hurry up/not delay the restart.
To start the five-second countdown (which may start without the above cue) the referee will:
- Blow the whistle
- Signal clearly with their hand/arm for the restart to be taken
- Visually count down from five seconds with a raised hand; this visual countdown may be accompanied by a verbal countdown where appropriate

If the ball is not in play at the end of the five-second countdown, the referee will
- award the throw-in to the opposing team, to be taken from the same position as the original throw-in; or
- award a corner kick to the opposing team on the side of the field closest to where the goal kick was to be taken
Where the restart is awarded to the opposing team, a caution (yellow card) applies only if the player or a team-mate then excessively delays the restart by the opposing team.

The referee does not have to wait for a player to have possession of the ball to start the five-second countdown. The countdown can also be started if the player deliberately causes a delay by:

slowly retrieving the ball
taking up an incorrect position at a throw-in
putting the ball in an incorrect position at a goal kick

Trent Alexander-Arnold, who spoke about the abuse he received from Liverpool fans in an interview this weekend, replaced Dumfries late on, but also irked Mourinho just five minutes later.

He miscued a pass to Vinicius Jr that went straight out of play.

The TV cameras then cut to Mourinho, who had his head on his hands.

Commentating on the match, ex-Arsenal midfielder Stewart Robson said: “That hasn’t done Alexander-Arnold any favours, that’s for sure.”

Lead commentator Ian Darke then added: “That looked like an expression of faint disgust.”

Real Madrid defender Denzel Dumfries — Dumfries was signed from Inter Milan for around £17m

Mourinho’s verdict

Mourinho, who joined Madrid for his second spell this summer, was pleased with his side’s overall performance.

“I think we deserved to win, but Espanyol didn’t deserve to lose,” he said.

“We played, especially in the second half, with great control and pressure. We took many risks, and I think we deserved to win.

“But a team like Espanyol, defending as they did, counterattacking dangerously, with players pushing themselves to the limit and being very well-organised, it’s tough for them to go home with nothing.

“But I repeat, we deserved the victory. When we talk about the defensive system, there’s one thing I cannot overlook: the physical condition of a team.

“They didn’t have any players at the World Cup and have been working together for a long time, and you can see it in the way they maintain this intensity of play.”