Mourinho Says Vinicius Is Being Bullied After Real Madrid's Win at Espanyol

Real Madrid coach Jose Mourinho is speaking out about what he calls bullying of his player Vinicius Jr. The Brazil winger was fouled many times during Real Madrid's 2-1 win over Espanyol in Spain's LaLiga on Saturday, August 22. Mourinho said it is not the first time this has happened and that something needs to change. The game was played in Barcelona, and it marked Mourinho's return to coaching Real Madrid.

The trouble started early in the match. In the first five minutes, Espanyol's Alex Calatrava knocked Vinicius down from behind. Calatrava then appeared to hit him again while Vinicius was still on the ground. Real Madrid's players asked the referee to give Calatrava a red card, which would have removed him from the game, but the referee did not take any action.

The game itself was exciting. Jude Bellingham scored first to put Real Madrid ahead. Calatrava then scored to tie the game for Espanyol. With just seconds left, Real Madrid substitute Carlo Espi scored in the 90th minute to win the match 2-1. It was a big moment for Mourinho in his first game back with the club.

After the game, Mourinho talked about the rough treatment Vinicius received. He said opponents keep targeting the winger in a planned way. 'Vinicius is no saint, but what they're doing to him was too much. Right from the first minute. It's a pattern that repeats itself from one opponent to the next,' Mourinho said. He also described how he felt teams take turns fouling Vinicius so no single player gets too many yellow cards.

Mourinho said Vinicius needs to stay calm even when other players try to make him angry. He told Vinicius to be careful about how he celebrates goals so he does not make things worse. 'We're in an era where society is against bullying, yet with Vini we're still seeing bullying - from opponents and from the crowd,' Mourinho said. He added that the team must help prepare Vinicius to handle these situations.

This is not the first time Mourinho has been connected to controversy involving Vinicius. Last season, Mourinho was the coach of a team called Benfica, and one of his players, Gianluca Prestianni, directed hurtful language at Vinicius during a Champions League match. European soccer's governing body, UEFA, later gave Prestianni a six-game ban for what was called homophobic conduct. Mourinho was criticized at the time because he defended Prestianni instead of Vinicius.

Many people were upset with Mourinho last year for how he handled that situation. Now, as Vinicius's own coach, Mourinho is taking a different stance and calling out the behavior. Vinicius has often been the target of abuse from rival players and fans throughout his career. The story of how he is treated on the field continues to be a major topic in European soccer.