The key facts

  • Mourinho: in Vinicius's place, in the summer he 'would have forced a move' to a league where he is respected
  • Vinicius is suspended for 4 matches for pulling hair and will miss the Clasico on October 25
  • Real demands Tebas's resignation after his comparison with Goebbels's propaganda

Mourinho on Vinicius: 'In his place, I would not have stayed'

Real's head coach Jose Mourinho said on Saturday that if he were in Vinicius Junior's place, he would have left the club last summer. According to the Portuguese, the 26-year-old Brazilian has been regularly attacked by opposing fans since his move to Real in 2018 and has repeatedly been the victim of racist insults. 'He is a fantastic guy, huge credit to him for continuing to live, survive and still smile. If I were in his place, I probably would not be here. Last summer I would have forced a move to a league, to a country, to where there are rival clubs and stadiums that respect him,' AFP quoted Mourinho as saying.

Suspension and missing the Clasico

Vinicius was sent off in Real's winning match against Villarreal last weekend for pulling hair and was suspended for four matches — he will miss the Clasico against Barcelona on October 25. Mourinho said he was glad it was exactly a four-match ban: in his opinion, certain 'hidden figures' in the disciplinary committee of the Spanish football federation 'would have given him another one or two games.' In the summer, Vinicius signed a new contract with Real until 2032. Mourinho explained the extension by love for the club and the city and by the belief that 'everything can improve,' adding that no one can take away from the player the joy of life and of working with his teammates. On Wednesday the coach substituted Vinicius during the away win over Roma (4:3) in the Champions League — the winger has still not returned to the form that helped him win the tournament twice under Carlo Ancelotti.

Conflict over refereeing and Tebas's words

Questions remain as to whether Real can combine Vinicius, Kylian Mbappe and Jude Bellingham in attack without losing balance. On Sunday Real host Sevilla, seeking not to fall further behind the leading Barcelona of Hansi Flick, who have won all their matches this season and are six points ahead of Mourinho's men. Real and Mourinho had blamed referees for some of their results, including the 1:2 derby defeat to Atletico in September. On Friday the club demanded the resignation of La Liga president Javier Tebas after he compared Real's efforts to discredit referees with the methods of Nazi propaganda chief Joseph Goebbels; Tebas then clarified that he was drawing a parallel with 'propaganda techniques,' not with Nazi ideology. Mourinho refused to expand on the topic: 'I don't want to talk about it, there are limits. It can only be justified as a clinical case — otherwise there is no justification.' He added that for the sake of the league's prestige abroad and the status of reigning world champion, it is better to 'leave it here' and not take the conflict to the global level.