José Mourinho's outburst in defense of Vinicius: "What they're putting him through is too much."

In his very first La Liga match of the season, played on Saturday against Espanyol Barcelona (a 2-1 victory), Real Madrid's Brazilian winger, Vinícius Júnior, was once again targeted by his opponents. He immediately received the support of his coach, José Mourinho.

New season, old habits die hard: during Real Madrid's victory against Espanyol Barcelona, ​​Vinícius was once again subjected to unsportsmanlike conduct by the opposing players. As early as the 4th minute, Alex Calatrava kicked him in the back while the Brazilian was on the ground.

In a press conference, José Mourinho stepped forward to publicly defend his player: "I might have to take you back several months to bring up my comments from when I was Vini's opponent ," declared the Real Madrid coach. "But today, Vini is one of my players. He's no saint, but what he's being put through is too much. From the very first minute, it's as if there's already a well-defined pattern: I commit a foul, you commit a foul, a player receives a yellow card, then another comes on without having received one..."

Mourinho : "With Vini, we're still in the era of harassment."

The Portuguese coach continued his reflection on the pressure faced by the Brazilian international: "It's a huge source of frustration for him; he needs to show immense self-control ," the coach remarked. "I even told him that if he scored, he had to be careful about how he celebrated. We live in a society that fights against harassment, but with Vini, we're still in the era of harassment."

This argument should be considered in light of the Benfica-Real Madrid match (0-1, February 17, 2026), which was marred at the time by Gianluca Prestianni's racist insults towards Vinícius. Mourinho, the Portuguese club's coach at the time, initially criticized the Brazilian for provoking the Lisbon fans by celebrating his goal with a few dance steps.

Later, the "Special One" softened his stance: "I repeat, if my player hasn't respected these principles, which are mine and those of Benfica, then his career under a coach like Mourinho and at a club like Benfica will be over. I'm not an expert, but I'm not ignorant either, and the presumption of innocence is a right. If you want me to repeat what I condemn twenty times, then I'll repeat it."