Vinícius Júnior was still on the pitch when Donyell Malen made it 3-1 to Roma in the 57th minute. Minutes later, Mourinho called his number. The Brazilian ripped his sweatband off, flung it to the ground and could be lip-read shouting “Why is he taking me off!?” at the bench.
By the time Antonio Rüdiger’s header dropped in during stoppage time, the man who took his place had scored one of the goals that made the switch look inspired. Endrick, on for Vinícius, finished off a three-goal flurry that began with Carlos Espí’s 83rd-minute strike and ended 4-3 for Real Madrid.
Mourinho was not interested in making a story of the outburst.
“I don’t like Vinícius’s gesture, but I understand it, everyone does it and I understand his frustration, you know the most important thing is he was happy with his team’s victory,” the Madrid manager said after the match.
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Vinícius: ‘Vini always comes back’
The 26-year-old spoke to reporters later in the evening and framed the moment as emotional rather than defiant.
“It’s normal. I was angry after being substituted because I always want to be at my best and help the team,” Vinícius told reporters in Rome.
He went further and credited the man who replaced him.
“The substitutions changed the team. Endrick changed the dynamic and was the best player.”
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The Brazilian also used the night to vent about something else entirely: a four-match LaLiga suspension he says he only learned about on arrival at the stadium. The ban was handed down for tugging an opponent’s hair in a previous league match, and under a new disciplinary rule it rules him out of Madrid’s trip to Camp Nou for the Clásico and their home game with Sevilla.
“I think the ban has come at a bad time. They had all day to impose the ban, and I only found out when I arrived at the stadium,” Vinícius said.
“The rule is new, and LaLiga officials always come to explain new things to us, but not this time.”
Mourinho goes after the Spanish FA
The Portuguese coach, back at a Madrid dugout for the first time since his first spell ended more than a decade ago, saved his sharpest words for the governing body.
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“Do you think it’s normal that a player from a Spanish team, who has to play a match that is also important for Spanish football, that two hours before the match a player knows he’s been given a four-match suspension?” Mourinho asked after the win.
“Couldn’t they do it tomorrow morning? Do we have to come by bus and almost arrive at the stadium when we find out Vinícius has a four-match suspension?”
“You want to kill a player two hours before the match? It doesn’t seem normal to me.”
Kylian Mbappé had cancelled out Marten de Roon’s 20th-minute opener before the break, but Malen’s second goal of the night at 57′ left Madrid two down away from home. Mourinho’s response was to pull his Brazilian winger and send on 20-year-old Endrick. Three corner-kick goals in the final seven minutes followed.
Madrid will be at Camp Nou for the Clásico later this month without their first-choice left winger.
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