José Mourinho has benched a Real Madrid icon before, and his words this week suggest he would be willing to do the same to Vinícius Júnior.
The Brazilian serves the last game of his four-match La Liga ban at Valencia tonight. Asked on Friday whether Real Madrid play better without Vinícius, Mourinho was direct. “Para mí, lo más importante es el equipo. Nunca voy a perjudicar el equipo para beneficiar a un jugador,” he said, according to Europa Press, via Infobae.
In our translation: “For me, the most important thing is the team. I will never harm the team to benefit a player.”
It was the answer of a manager who has already thought about what happens next.
He has done this before
In December 2012, during his first spell at the club, Mourinho left captain Iker Casillas out of a league game at Málaga and picked Antonio Adán instead. He called the decision “purely technical”, The Scotsman reported at the time.
It did not end well. Madrid lost 3-2 that night, and Mourinho left the club at the end of the season. Nobody, he had made clear, had a guaranteed place, and that principle is still there in what he said this week.
The numbers back him
In La Liga, Madrid have coped comfortably without Vinícius. They have won all three league games he has missed, scoring nine and conceding two, and one of those wins came at Camp Nou.
| Date | Match | Result | Real Madrid scorers |
|---|---|---|---|
| 18 October | Real Madrid vs Sevilla | Won 4-1 | Mbappé (2), Güler, Diomande |
| 25 October | Barcelona vs Real Madrid | Won 2-1 | Mbappé (2) |
| 1 November | Racing Santander vs Real Madrid | Won 3-0 | Mbappé, Bellingham, Diomande |
Sources: Al Jazeera, Flashscore, Real Madrid
Yan Diomande, a natural left winger, has scored twice in that run. Kylian Mbappé has scored five, and the club say he goes into tonight’s game having scored in six consecutive matches.
Vinícius’s own start to the season looks thin by comparison. By mid-September, he had played 598 of a possible 630 minutes in seven starts under Mourinho, for one goal and three assists, according to EFE figures reported by Diario El Mundo. It is not a like-for-like comparison, given the different opponents and stage of the season. Still, Mourinho gave Vinícius almost every minute available, and the goals did not follow.
The case for Mourinho recalling Vinícius quickly
Those who want Vinícius back straight away have a case. He is one of the most dangerous attackers in world football, and three league wins are a small sample. When the Champions League knockout rounds arrive in the spring, Madrid will want a player who can decide a tie on his own. Diomande has not yet shown he can do that.
Mourinho knows Vinícius’s value. In the same press conference, he said that “a very good player is a player who can have negative moments”, and described Vinícius’s performance in the Champions League win in Athens as “a very acceptable game”.
How the next few weeks are handled matters too. Vinícius is currently on a club-approved commercial trip to Dubai before joining Brazil, according to The Athletic, via beIN Sports. Madrid need him at his best by March. A selection decision handled badly in November could become a standoff neither side wants.
Why Mourinho is right about Vinícius
These concerns are about when Vinícius returns. They do not mean he should go straight back in. Nobody is suggesting he should be frozen out for months, but the question is whether he walks back into a winning league side because of who he is. Mourinho’s answer is no, and the results so far support him.
It could even help him. Vinícius’s effort has never been the issue, as our analysis of his defensive work showed earlier this year, and Mourinho said in September that “if he works, he’ll always have my support”, according to IANS. What’s missing is sharpness, and half an hour against tiring defenses could bring it back faster than another run of 90-minute starts.
The verdict
After the international break, Vinícius should start on the bench, with the door left wide open. If he takes his chances, he will be back in the starting XI within weeks.
If Vinícius uses that time well, this could be remembered as the moment his season turned. If not, Diomande has already shown he is ready to keep the shirt.
