Mourinho: Vinicius faces bullying from opponents and fans

Jose Mourinho, manager of Real Madrid, accused opponents and fans of bullying Vinicius Junior after the Brazilian winger was subjected to harsh treatment during the team’s opening match in Spain’s top-flight La Liga against Espanyol at the Espanyol stadium, which ended in a 2-1 victory for Real Madrid yesterday Saturday.

Real Madrid, who began Mourinho’s return to the club with a last-minute win, were furious in the first five minutes of the match when Alex Kalatraf pulled Vinicius from behind and brought him down, then appeared to grab him again while the striker was on the ground.

Real Madrid players demanded that Kalatraf be sent off, but the referee took no action against him before he later equalized for Espanyol after Jude Bellingham had given Real Madrid the lead.

Substitute Carlos Espi, who came on in the final minutes, scored the winning goal for the visitors in the 90th minute.

Mourinho said the treatment Vinicius receives has become a recurring issue.

The Portuguese manager said, “Vinicius is not a saint, but what they do to him is exaggerated. From the first minute. It’s a pattern that repeats from one opponent to another.”

Mourinho said Vinicius, who is often the target of abuse from opposing defenders and fans, needs to maintain his composure despite the provocations.

He added, “He needs to show a great deal of self-control. I told him that if he scores a goal, he must be careful about how he celebrates. We are in an era where societies stand up against bullying, yet we still see bullying against Vinicius – whether from opponents or from fans. We must educate and prepare him as best we can, and that’s all there is to it.”

This controversy brought to mind events from last season, when Mourinho was managing Benfica and Vinicius was subjected to discriminatory abuse by Benfica player Gianluca Prestianni during a Champions League match against Real Madrid.

Mourinho faced heavy criticism at the time for defending Prestianni, saying that Vinicius himself had provoked the fans with his goal celebrations, and that Benfica was far from racist, pointing out that the greatest player in the history of the Portuguese club, Eusebio, was also black.