Mourinho says Vinicius Junior might have left Real Madrid over abuse

Real Madrid coach Jose Mourinho says he would have forced a move away from the club this summer if he had been in Vinicius Junior’s position.

The Brazil winger was sent off for pulling an opponent’s hair during Real Madrid’s victory over Villarreal last weekend. He was subsequently suspended for four matches and will miss the Clasico against Barcelona on 25 October.

Vinicius, 26, has also faced repeated hostility from opposition supporters and has been subjected to racist abuse on numerous occasions since joining Real Madrid in 2018.

“He's a spectacular kid who it's easy to have a good relationship with,” Mourinho told reporters.

“He's a fantastic boy, tremendous credit to him for the fact that he keeps living and surviving and still having a smile...

“If it were me in his place, probably I wouldn't be here. In this last summer I would have forced an exit to a league, a country, to somewhere there are rival clubs and stadiums that respect him.”

Despite those difficulties, Vinicius agreed a new contract with Real Madrid in the summer that will keep him at the club until 2032.

There have been questions over whether Real Madrid can field Vinicius, Kylian Mbappe and Jude Bellingham together while maintaining a balanced side.

“Because he loves Real Madrid, for loving the club and the city, for believing that things can always improve, he renewed and he keeps on smiling,” Mourinho added.

“No one or nobody can... well, influence him negatively yes, because he's human... but take away his joy of living and working and being with his team-mates, no, no one can do that.”

Mourinho substituted Vinicius during Real Madrid’s 4-3 Champions League win at Roma on Wednesday. The winger has yet to rediscover the form that helped him win the competition twice under Carlo Ancelotti.

The Portuguese manager said he was relieved the suspension had been limited to four matches, claiming he expected unnamed members of the Spanish football federation’s disciplinary committee to impose “one or two more”.

Real Madrid play Sevilla on Sunday as they attempt to avoid falling further behind leaders Barcelona, who visit Real Betis later on Saturday.

Hansi Flick’s Barcelona have won every match this season and sit six points ahead of fourth-placed Real Madrid.

Real Madrid and Mourinho have criticised refereeing decisions for some results, including their 2-1 derby defeat by Atletico Madrid in September.

On Friday, Real Madrid called for La Liga president Javier Tebas to resign after he compared the club’s attempts to undermine referees with the methods of Nazi propaganda chief Joseph Goebbels.

Tebas later said he was referring to “those propaganda techniques” rather than Nazi ideology.

“I don't want to talk about this, there are limits and there are limits. You can only excuse it if it's a clinical case - otherwise there's no excuse,” Mourinho said.

“I don't want to go down that road. Madrid and its fans understands what it is up against.

“For the prestige that the league has abroad, for being the current world champions, it's better if we try to keep this here and not let it get out (to the world).”