Mourinho Says He Would Have Left Real Madrid If He Were Vinícius Júnior

Mourinho Backs Vinícius

Real Madrid coach José Mourinho said on Saturday that if he were Vinícius Júnior he would have left the club this summer, as the Brazilian winger deals with a four-match ban that will keep him out of the clásico against Barcelona on 25 October.

Vinícius was sent off during Madrid's win over Villarreal last weekend for hair pulling and was subsequently banned for four matches. The 25-year-old, who signed a new contract tying him to Real Madrid until 2032, has also been targeted regularly by opposition fans and racially abused on many occasions since joining Madrid in 2018.

"He's a spectacular kid who it's easy to have a good relationship with," Mourinho said. "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."

Mourinho took Vinícius off during the 4-3 Champions League win at Roma on Wednesday, with the winger still struggling to return to the form that helped him win the competition twice under Carlo Ancelotti.

The Real Madrid coach said he was happy that Vinícius's ban was four matches, adding that he thought some hidden figures at the Spanish football federation's disciplinary committee "would give him one or two more".

Madrid, fourth in La Liga, host Sevilla on Sunday among the weekend's other fixtures.

Saturday's Fixtures Across Europe

Elsewhere on the continent, the Bundesliga programme features Borussia Dortmund at Union Berlin and Bayern Munich against RB Leipzig, while in Italy Napoli travel to Venezia and Inter visit Bologna. In France, Paris Saint-Germain are away at Strasbourg, and Lille have a chance to go top overnight when they host Brest.