José Mourinho admitted he could not explain Real Madrid’s defeat to Real Betis despite believing his side dominated the La Liga encounter on Thursday.

Madrid suffered a 1-0 defeat at La Cartuja, with Mourinho insisting that his team produced enough to win the game but failed to take their chances.

Troy Parrott scored in the 81st minute to give Betis the lead after Thibaut Courtois had saved Nelson Deossa’s header, with Parrott reacting quickest to the rebound.

Madrid then had a chance to rescue a point deep into stoppage time after Vinicius Junior was fouled in the box, but Kylian Mbappe’s penalty was saved by Betis goalkeeper Alvaro Valles. The defeat ended Madrid’s perfect start to the season under Mourinho, who had guided the club to three consecutive victories before Friday’s setback.

“Sometimes you lose and don’t know why or how to explain in,” Mourinho said after the match. He added, “The team played a great match. Sometimes you lose and don’t know why or how to explain it. We were very dominant, the center-backs were imperial and controlled absolutely everything.

“A lot of offensive play and many goal-scoring opportunities. If the match ends in a draw, we leave frustrated because we did more, so imagine how we feel with the loss. The team was solid throughout. Betis had some counterattacks, which is normal.”

The Portuguese manager said Madrid created several scoring opportunities and praised the team’s overall performance. He added that Betis threatened mainly on the counter-attack but believed the match belonged to Madrid.

“The match was Madrid’s. Betis, who played for the draw, hit the jackpot,” he added.

Mourinho said he expected to review the match before reaching a final assessment but maintained that, from the touchline, he could not identify why his side had lost.

“I might change my opinion after watching the match tomorrow, but from the bench today, I don’t know why we lost,” he said.

The former Chelsea and Manchester United manager also praised his players’ attitude, saying there was nothing to reproach them for individually or collectively.

Everyone gave their all. We clearly deserved to win, but deserving doesn’t give you points,” Mourinho added.

The result leaves both Madrid and Betis on nine points after four matches, with Madrid having won three and lost one.