Jose Mourinho has thrown his support behind Vinícius Júnior after a difficult start to the 2026-27 season, saying it “breaks my heart” to see him in this situation. The Real Madrid forward has scored just once and registered one assist in 2026-27, and his straight red card against Villarreal has now made the problem bigger.
Mourinho's defence of Vinícius
Mourinho told Sky Italia on Tuesday that Vinícius is “happy every day” and “works hard”, but has not yet found “the joy of making a decisive impact”. He added: “Let’s see if, in the Champions League, given that he’s suspended for the league, he can get back to being the real Vinícius.”
That line fits the numbers. Vinícius has only one goal and one assist in eight appearances, while his 6.88 average rating in La Liga points to performances that have been steady rather than decisive. His last five ratings have also gone 5.94, 6.15, 6.26, 7.70 and 7.30, which is not the sort of run Madrid want from one of their main attackers.
The suspension threat before Barcelona
The immediate issue is the dismissal itself. Vinícius was sent off for pulling the hair of Villarreal player Nathan Saliba, and the disciplinary fallout could leave him out of the home game against Sevilla on Sun, Oct. 18 and the Clásico against Barcelona at Camp Nou on Sun, Oct. 25.
Vinícius tried to move the focus back to the group after the red card, posting: “The joy continues. My apologies to my team and the fans.” Real Madrid do not need the distraction. They are already leaning heavily on a forward who signed a contract extension until 2032 this summer, and the next week could tell them a lot about how much margin they have if the suspension is as long as it might be.
Written by Daniel Hartley with AI-assisted research, cross-checked against 5 outlets. How we work →
