Jose Mourinho has claimed he was provoked by a fourth referee in an incident that saw him sent off in AS Roma's 2-1 Serie A loss to relegation-threatened Cremona on Tuesday. He said he would seek legal advice.

Mourinho was two games away from Italian sports judges on Wednesday after Cremonese picked up their first win of the season when Daniel Ciofani's second-half penalty kicked Roma out of the Champions League and relegated them to fifth place. and a fine of €10,000 ($10,672).

Mourinho, who was ordered to run after referee Marco Piccinini objected early in the second half, said his reaction was due to the handling of the fourth official. It's the Portuguese manager's third red card in Serie A this season.

"For the first time in my career, the referee spoke unfairly to me," Mourinho said at his post-match press conference."I'm not crazy." And to get the reaction I had when something happened I need to know now if there's anything I can do from a legal standpoint."

he added:
“Piccinini gave me a red because the fourth referee told him to do it. and I can't tell him honestly what triggered my reaction.

Roma are fifthwith 44 points, one point behind fourth-placed Lazio Roma.

Mourinho is expected to miss the home game against Juventus in Rome and the match against Sassuolo on March 12. A statement from Serie A said the coach's penalty was "for violently and provocatively disputing the referee's decision in the second half and repeating that action when sent off."

He was "for making seriously offensive remarks and conclusions about a fourth referee, even though he also has the right to enter the referee's dressing room at the end of the match," the statement added.

Tuesday's winwas Cremona's first in his division at the top of Italy since March 1996 and saw him move up one spot to 19th in Serie A.

"We don't deserve to lose," Mourinho said.

"Excusing that I'm tired doesn't work... We are responsible for the lack of intensity, the lack of desire to finish the match quickly. ”

"We paid too high a price. We didn't deserve to win, but we also didn't deserve to lose, especially for what we did in the second half after the tie. We all thought we could win, and then came the penalties.."result. "