Jose Mourinho Defends Vinicius Junior After Champions League Win

Jose Mourinho has stepped in to shield Vinicius Junior after the Real Madrid forward was jeered by sections of the home crowd, despite a chaotic but valuable Champions League win over Inter Milan at the Santiago Bernabeu.

Real Madrid edged a wild contest 2-1, with Kylian Mbappe and Federico Valverde on the scoresheet before Carlos Augusto dragged Inter back into it. The scoreline flattered neither side. It could have run away from Madrid. It could just as easily have turned into a rout for them.

Mourinho had been blunt before kick-off: give him an ugly win over a glorious defeat any day. He got exactly that.

“A crazy match,” he called it on Movistar. Not a cliché, more a fair description of a game that swung from end to end and left both defences exposed. “We are often criticised when the match is boring, and today it was crazy, and it could have ended 7-6 without any problem.”

Madrid’s problem area was obvious to him.

“Our midfield was weak, they made changes very early, and I did not have many options in midfield,” he admitted. Inter flooded that zone, forced errors, and kept finding gaps that should not exist at this level. Madrid, for long spells, survived rather than controlled.

The response, though, pleased him. Inter kept creating chances, kept asking questions, and Madrid kept finding a way to stay in front. That resilience, he insisted, deserved more attention than the nervousness.

Thibaut Courtois played a central role in that survival act, producing a string of saves that stopped the night from turning sour. Mourinho, though, refused to turn the Belgian into the sole hero.

“Courtois made many saves, but how many goals did we waste on the counter-attacks? It was a wonderful match,” he said, pointing to the other side of the story: Madrid’s missed opportunities when Inter were stretched and vulnerable.

Valverde, who scored, also came in for backing. Mourinho highlighted the collective pressing and the work without the ball that forced mistakes and opened the door to Madrid’s goals. In his eyes, the Uruguayan’s impact went beyond a single finish.

Then came the firmest message of the night.

Vinicius, not yet at his explosive best and substituted to a soundtrack of whistles from parts of the Bernabeu, became the focus of Mourinho’s defence. The Portuguese coach did not pretend the Brazilian is in peak form. He did not need to. Instead, he underlined what he believes should matter most right now.

“He has not yet reached his full readiness, and he is not yet the Vinicius we know, but he works a lot, and whoever works and gives everything he has deserves respect,” Mourinho said.

The words were measured but pointed. Effort, not just end product. Commitment, not just dribbles and goals. For Mourinho, that should be enough to earn patience from the stands.

Vinicius now carries that message into the next challenge. Real Madrid pivot back to LaLiga and a meeting with Rayo Vallecano, with their forward under scrutiny, his manager firmly in his corner, and the Bernabeu deciding how it wants to sound when his name is called again.