Mourinho left perplexed after Milan defeat

The visitors finished the game at San Siro with just nine men, after both Rick Karsdorp and Gianluca Mancini picked up red cards in a game where Olivier Giroud (from the penalty spot), Junior Messias and Rafael Leao scored for the hosts.

Tammy Abraham got the consolation goal for Mourinho's side, who still had a chance of stealing something from the game until substitute Leao's late clincher.

Here's what Mourinho told Italian broadcaster DAZN after the match...

A few too many mistakes overall – were you unhappy with the performance from your side tonight?

“Yes, of my side yes. Even when it was 2-0 and then 2-1, up until Karsdorp’s red card we were still in the game … but the quality of the performance was not good. We gave away the ball so easily, our performance level was so low, but we were still in the game.

"If we talk about our errors then we also need to talk about the referee and VAR – because I still have not seen a single image where you can clearly see that the one given to Milan in the first half was a penalty. I cannot see it. You can see that Tammy [Abraham] makes a movement with his arm but you can’t see any sort of clear contact with the ball.

"Aureliano [the VAR official] was at home but clearly he wanted to be here, given that he was the one that stopped the action. I spoke to [referee] Chiffi and I asked him for a clip of the incident to see where it was a penalty, because my analysts could not find a reason.

“If we compare that incident with the ones against Zaniolo and Ibanez … either you give all three or you don’t give any of them. If it was down to me it would be the latter. We just want consistency in the decisions. So, as I said, we played poorly – but in terms of the refereeing we always seem to be the unlucky ones.”

You were in this one until the end, but if we look at the league table now you clearly lack something…

“We are where our quality, coupled with all the refereeing incidents that have gone against us, mean we should be. We are an average squad that could have three, four, five or six more points – but that’s where we are. If I look at the first goal and the late penalty then they are both clear examples where we have given the opposition chances. Then there were many other moments where we made significant mistakes. I didn’t see a problem with the tactical setup, just a lack of quality in that regard. But I have to say I don’t understand what Chiffi and Aureliano were doing. I don’t understand, it’s difficult.”

What’s the toughest thing to take about today, the defeat or the absences you will now have against Juventus?

“Right now it’s the result, because we’ve come away with no points. But as soon as I leave here I will start thinking about the next match, and that is going to be tough for us. We have a few issues now and we will try to improve things in the transfer market – let’s see if it is possible to finalise something we are working on before the game at the weekend. Even if that means the players can only train with us for one day or so.”