‘At Least a Lack of Respect’: Mourinho Furious Over Vinicius Ban Announcement

Jose Mourinho has accused Spanish football authorities of showing a “lack of respect” after announcing Vinicius Junior’s four-match suspension just two hours before Real Madrid’s Champions League match against Roma.

The Real Madrid winger received the punishment on Wednesday after being sent off in Saturday’s 1-0 La Liga win over Villarreal for pulling an opponent’s hair.

The ban comes at a crucial stage of the season, with Real Madrid set to face Barcelona in a Clasico while trailing their rivals by six points in the league standings. The suspension will keep Mourinho without one of his leading attacking players for a significant run of domestic fixtures.

Vinicius was in the starting line-up as Mourinho’s team staged a stunning comeback to beat Roma 4-3 in the Champions League, overturning a 3-1 deficit with seven minutes left to play.

But the manager was unhappy with the timing of the disciplinary announcement, questioning why it had to be made so close to kick-off.

“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?

“Couldn’t they do it now? Couldn’t they do it tomorrow morning? Do we have to come by bus and almost arrive at the stadium when we find out Vinicius has a four-match suspension?”

Mourinho described the decision as “shameless” and argued that the timing was damaging to the player and the club.

“They do things shamelessly now. The cat is out of the bag now. Two hours before the match, a player must know he has a four-match suspension.

“A Spanish team that has earned three points for Spanish football, for the rankings, for the prestige of Spanish football. You want to kill a player two hours before the match; it doesn’t seem normal to me.”

Manager Also Criticises Fixture Congestion

The Portuguese coach extended his criticism to the scheduling of Real Madrid’s upcoming matches.

His team are scheduled to play AEK Athens in Greece on November 4 before travelling to Valencia for a league encounter on November 7, ahead of a week of international fixtures.

Mourinho said the arrangements showed, at the very least, a lack of respect.

“At the very least, a lack of respect,” he said when asked about the timing of the suspension announcement.

He continued: “Playing in Athens on Wednesday night, arriving in Madrid probably at 5am, something like that, and then playing Saturday in Valencia, on a weekend that precedes a week of national team matches.

“It makes absolutely no sense, they make you play on Saturday in Valencia, which is an extremely difficult match, it doesn’t seem innocent to me.”

Mourinho was also unconvinced by suggestions that broadcasters were responsible for the Saturday fixture.

“The usual excuses, I don’t buy them, because this wasn’t 25 years ago. The excuses from TV, that it was TV that decided, that it was TV that chose the match for Saturday, I don’t buy this anymore. I’m too old to swallow this.”

He added that Real Madrid supporters deserved to understand what was happening.

“And this Vinicius story, two hours before a match, knowing that he has a four-match suspension, doesn’t deserve comment. Real Madrid fans aren’t stupid and I will do everything possible to open people’s eyes.”

Substitutions Inspire Dramatic Victory

On the pitch, Mourinho’s tactical changes helped Real Madrid complete an extraordinary late turnaround after struggling for much of the match.

Donyell Malen’s brace had put Roma 3-1 ahead early in the second half. However, Mourinho’s substitutes Endrick and Carlos Espi both scored, while Arda Guler came on and supplied two assists as Real secured a 4-3 victory.

Mourinho said he had not anticipated such a dramatic result but believed his bench could influence the final stages.

“I’m not going to be a genius and say I had prepared everything for a 3-1 to 4-3 victory, it’s not true,” he said.

“But I genuinely thought that in the last 20 minutes I had substitutions I could make, and I had substitutions that could change things.”

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