Vinicius Targeted by Bullying From Opponents and Fans

Real Madrid began their new La Liga campaign with a 2-1 victory over Espanyol, but it was Vinicius Junior who stole the headlines. The Brazilian winger was involved in several heated exchanges with both opposing players and supporters during the match. After the game, new Real Madrid manager Jose Mourinho came to the winger’s defense.

Tensions surrounding Vinicius began almost immediately at Espanyol’s home ground on Saturday night. In the third minute, Vinicius, who was down on the ground, became involved in a confrontation with Espanyol defender Kalo following a foul. The pair clashed again in the 31st minute, with the referee showing both players yellow cards after another heated exchange.

Vinicius also found himself in a war of words with Espanyol supporters. After being subjected to taunts and provocation from the stands, the Real Madrid star responded with hand gestures, seemingly encouraging the fans to shout and chant even louder.

Speaking at his post-match press conference, Mourinho accused both the opposition and the supporters of bullying Vinicius.

“We are living in a social era where we talk about anti-bullying. Yet with Vini, we are still seeing bullying—from opponents and from the fans,” Mourinho said.

The Real Madrid boss claimed that Vinicius had been targeted by the opposition from the very first minute of the match.

“It is something that follows a certain pattern. One opponent after another—‘I will foul him, then you foul him; if I get a yellow card, you do the same’—and it just keeps going,” he explained.

Mourinho also advised Vinicius to keep his emotions under control, particularly when celebrating goals.

“He needs to control his emotions much better. I told him that if he scores, he also needs to be careful about how he celebrates. We have to educate him and prepare him to perform at the highest level,” Mourinho said.

While discussing Vinicius, Mourinho also brought up some of his own previous comments about the player. He acknowledged that he was taking a risk by defending the Brazilian, given that old remarks could be brought back up.

“I am taking a risk because if you go back a few months, you can find comments from me when I was on the opposite side from Vini,” Mourinho said.

Referring to comments he made about Vinicius during his time as Benfica manager, Mourinho added: “Vini is my player now. He is no saint, but what is done to him goes far beyond that.”