Real Madrid coach Jose Mourinho was unhappy with the state of the playing surface after watching his side defeat Espanyol 3-0 on Tuesday night.

Cristiano Ronaldo opened the scoring with a penalty before late goals from Gonzalo Higuain and Karim Benzema a scoreline that flattered the football Real Madrid produced during the 90 minutes of the game.

"The football was not good, but taking into account we were playing on a mudbath and with a tired team and against a rival that had nothing to lose, I am satisfied." Said Mourinho.

The playing surface at the Santiago Bernabeu has been affected by a fungal infection and parts of the pitch are either bare of grass or lift up when they are stepped on.

The Real Madrid coach refused to judge the performance of referee Clos Gomez, who gave his side a penalty after Luis Garcia had handballed while in a defensive wall. The referee was correct in sending off Madrid defender Pepe, but showed two harsh red cards to the visiting side, sending off Forlin and Galan to leave them with just nine players.

"I like to speak about referees when they have done a great job and not today when they have not been good. I don't think Clos Gomez influenced the result," said Mourinho on Goltv.

Espanyol coach Mauricio Pochettino was also diplomatic about the referee, limiting himself to say "everyone has seen what happened", but club President Dani Sanchez Llibre did not hold back on his criticism.

"Clos Gomez was very bad, the worst I have seen on a football pitch. I don't understand how a referee can be so bad at this level. He should be refereeing in the local leagues where there is no problem is you get things wrong."

"If those kind of decisions go against us nobody says anything, but its front page news when they go against one of the big sides," he fumed.