‘Vinicius is no saint, but what they’re doing to him was too much,’ Mourinho said after his first match of La Liga.
Published On 23 Aug 2026
Real Madrid manager Jose Mourinho has accused opponents and supporters of bullying Vinicius Junior after the Brazilian winger was targeted with rough treatment in the club’s opening 2-1 La Liga win at Espanyol.
Real, who kicked off Mourinho’s return to the club with a late victory on Saturday, were furious inside the opening five minutes when Alex Calatrava brought down Vinicius from behind and then appeared to catch him again while the forward was on the ground.
Madrid’s players appealed for a red card, but the referee took no action against Calatrava, who later scored Espanyol’s equaliser after Jude Bellingham had put Real ahead.
Late Real substitute Carlo Espi struck in the 90th minute to give the visitors victory.
Mourinho said the treatment of Vinicius had become a recurring theme.
“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.”
The Portuguese coach said Vinicius, who has often been the focus of abuse from rival defenders and crowds, needed to stay composed despite the provocation.
“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.
“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.”
The controversy also carried echoes of last season, when Mourinho was Benfica manager, and Vinicius was subjected to discriminatory abuse by Benfica’s Gianluca Prestianni during a Champions League match against Real Madrid.
Prestianni was later handed a six-match suspension by UEFA for discriminatory conduct that was deemed homophobic.
Mourinho was heavily criticised at the time for defending Prestianni, saying Vinicius had incited the crowd with his goal celebrations and Benfica were anything but racist because the Portuguese club’s greatest player, Eusebio, was also Black.
