Real Madrid coach Jose Mourinho has spoken out against the treatment of Vinicius Junior after his side’s 2-1 win over Espanyol on Sunday.
Mourinho said opponents and rival supporters were bullying the Brazilian winger. He believes Vinicius has faced the same treatment in several matches.
The issue came up early in Real Madrid’s LaLiga opener at Espanyol.
Alex Calatrava brought Vinicius down from behind inside the first five minutes. He then appeared to make contact with the winger again while he was on the ground.
Real Madrid players wanted the referee to show Calatrava a red card. However, the referee did not punish him.
Calatrava later scored Espanyol’s equaliser after Jude Bellingham had given Real the lead.
Substitute Carlo Espi scored in the 90th minute to seal a 2-1 victory for Real Madrid.
After the match, Mourinho expressed his concern over how opponents treat Vinicius.
“Vinicius is no saint, but what they’re doing to him was too much. Right from the first minute. It’s a pattern that repeats itself from one opponent to the next,” Mourinho said.
“I’ll give him one, now you give him one. 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.”
Vinicius has faced several difficult situations involving opponents and rival supporters during his time in Spain.
Mourinho said the 26 year old must control his emotions when opponents try to provoke him.
“He needs to have a lot of emotional control. I’ve told him that if he scores a goal, he needs to be careful how he celebrates it,” Mourinho said.
The Real Madrid coach also compared the treatment of Vinicius to bullying.
“We’re in an era where society is against bullying, yet with Vini we’re still seeing bullying from opponents and from the crowd. We have to educate him and prepare him as best we can, and that’s it.”
Mourinho’s comments come months after another incident involving Vinicius.
Last season, when Mourinho was Benfica coach, Vinicius faced discriminatory abuse from Benfica player Gianluca Prestianni during a Champions League match against Real Madrid.
UEFA later banned Prestianni for six matches for discriminatory conduct.
Mourinho faced criticism at the time after defending Prestianni. He said Vinicius had provoked the crowd with his celebrations and rejected claims that Benfica was a racist club.
Mourinho is now back in charge of Real Madrid and has called for better treatment of Vinicius as the club begins its new LaLiga campaign.
