The verdict from inside Real Madrid, as relayed to Goal by former members of the coaching staff, is blunt: either Vinícius Júnior or Kylian Mbappé has to go for the club to find any kind of lasting balance.
One former staff member told the outlet that “the problem will only be solved when either Vinicius or Mbappe leaves,” and that a side built around both of them is tactically unworkable because it defends with only eight outfield players. The same report describes two attackers who get on well off the pitch but do not connect on it, chasing the same spaces and leaving the team short whenever one of them switches off defensively.
A red card 15 days before the Clásico
The timing could not be worse. On October 10, Vinícius was shown a straight red card at Villarreal for pulling the hair of Nathan Saliba in the 71st minute, with VAR also chalking off a goal he had just celebrated. Head coach José Mourinho skipped his scheduled post-match news conference.
The forward issued a brief public apology later the same evening.
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“The joy remains. Sorry to my team and the fans,” he wrote.
The Spanish federation’s disciplinary committee is expected to rule later on Wednesday October 14. Under Article 103.2, which covers violent conduct outside the normal course of play, a two- or three-match ban is in play, according to football-espana.net. Any ban of two matches or more would rule the Brazilian out of Sevilla on October 18 and the Clásico at Camp Nou a week later. Madrid are weighing an appeal, but no final sanction has been announced.
Mbappé’s Paris and Alps detour
The other half of the equation is still in Madrid and still arguing with his coach. Mbappé pulled out of the final part of France’s international window with a tendon problem in his left knee, then was photographed at a Paris venue during Fashion Week and shared a video of himself cycling in the Swiss Alps.
Mourinho’s rulebook is strict and recent: all recovery work must be done at the Valdebebas training complex, late arrivals are sent to train alone in the gym, and extracurricular activities on wheels or snow are banned outright.
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“You are a football player 24 hours a day. Everything reflects the job. What you eat, what you drink, how you sleep, even things in your private life,” he told reporters last month, adding that his players “cannot ski” and “cannot ride a bike.”
Mbappé reported back to Valdebebas on Monday October 12 and was given a dressing-down before being allowed into full training. Asked publicly about the uproar, Mourinho defended his forward.
“Excessive? The matter is ridiculous,” he said, insisting the Paris venue had been hosting a private Fashion Week event rather than a conventional nightclub and that the Swiss bike had only been used to move between hotel buildings.
The former staff members quoted by Goal painted a less forgiving picture, describing Mbappé as a player whose Ballon d’Or ambitions have widened the gap with Vinícius rather than closed it, and whose refusal to defend compounds the same problem on the other flank.
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Camp Nou on October 25
Real Madrid travel to Camp Nou for the first Clásico of the 2026-27 La Liga season on Sunday October 25, with kick-off at 9pm local time. If the Wednesday ruling matches Madrid’s own expectations, Mourinho will walk into Catalonia without Vinícius and with the player at the center of his two-superstar project under internal fire for a trip to the Alps.
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