Mourinho Condemns Bullying Pattern Targeting Vinicius Junior

Jose Mourinho has called out a pattern of bullying directed at Vinicius Junior following Real Madrid's 2-1 La Liga victory over Espanyol. The manager made his stance clear after his first match back in charge of the club. He told reporters that while Vinicius is not a saint, the rough treatment he endured was simply too much to ignore.

The trouble started inside the opening five minutes at Estadi Cornella-El Prat. Alex Calatrava brought down Vinicius from behind and seemed to catch him again while the Brazilian winger lay on the ground. Real Madrid players rushed to appeal for a red card, but the referee took no action against Calatrava. That same defender later scored Espanyol's equalizer after Jude Bellingham had given Real the lead. Carlo Espi finally sealed the win with a strike in the 90th minute.

Mourinho pointed out that this treatment has become a recurring theme. "Right from the first minute," he said. "It's a pattern that repeats itself from one opponent to the next." The coach explained his frustration with how teams respond to bookings. "I'll give him one, now you give him one," Mourinho stated. "If I get a yellow card, you give him one. If I'm substituted, another player comes on who hasn't been booked yet, and you give him one."

He stressed that Vinicius needs significant emotional control to handle such provocation. "He needs to have a lot of emotional control," Mourinho added. "I've told him that if he scores a goal, he needs to be careful how he celebrates it." The situation highlights a troubling reality where society condemns bullying yet Vinicius still faces it from both opponents and the crowd. We must educate him and prepare him as best we can, and that is all there is to say.

This controversy echoes events from last season when Mourinho managed Benfica. At that time, Vinicius faced discriminatory abuse from Gianluca Prestianni during a Champions League match against Real Madrid. UEFA eventually handed Prestianni a six-match suspension for conduct deemed homophobic. Back then, Mourinho faced heavy criticism for defending Prestianni, arguing that Vinicius had incited the crowd with his celebrations and claiming Benfica was not racist because their greatest player, Eusebio, was also Black.