"For me, the most important thing is the team," José Mourinho said in comments translated from Portuguese to A Bola's coverage. The line sets the tone for Real Madrid's trip to Valencia, with Vinicius ruled out of LaLiga for 4 matches and available in Europe because he is not suspended there.

Mourinho's selection line

Mourinho did not frame the issue as a debate about one player. He said he will never harm the team to benefit Vinicius, and added that when the forward is available again he will manage him as part of the next sequence of games. That is a pragmatic view, and it matches the situation Madrid are in before the Valencia vs Real Madrid fixture.

The suspension leaves Vinicius with only 8 LaLiga appearances this season. Mourinho's point is less about protecting him than about not distorting the side around him, especially with league games and European matches pulling in different directions.

The turnaround after Athens

Madrid landed back in the Spanish capital at 3 a.m. after the trip to Athens, and no player went home. Mourinho said the squad stayed together to get a few more hours of sleep, then completed recovery work the following day.

He also signalled changes, saying Konaté and Dean Huijsen will play tomorrow. That points to rotation rather than sentiment, which is the more important detail here. Madrid are already managing fatigue, and Mourinho is treating the Valencia trip as part of a wider run, not as a one-off selection puzzle. He also said Cristiano Ronaldo is not the point of the discussion, because the immediate problem is the next match.

Mestalla and the title race

Mourinho called Valencia one of the most difficult matches in the league and said the side must be at its best to win at Mestalla on Saturday at 21:00. He also noted that Valencia had the whole week to prepare, while Madrid have come through a short turnaround from Athens.

The league pressure is real enough. Madrid are third in LaLiga, 3 points behind Barcelona and 1 point behind Atletico Madrid. That is the backdrop for the rotation, and it is why Mourinho keeps returning to the same theme, the team has to come before any individual.

The important fact is still the suspension itself, because Vinicius cannot play in LaLiga for 4 matches. The next check is whether Madrid's changes at Mestalla hold up on Saturday night.

Written by Daniel Hartley with AI-assisted research, cross-checked against 3 outlets. How we work →