José Mourinho took issue with what he described as a "shameless" ruling after Spanish football's governing body announced a four-match suspension for Real Madrid winger Vinicius Junior only hours before the club's Champions League fixture against Roma was due to begin. On Wednesday, the player learned he would miss five matches as a result of the red card issued four days prior, which stemmed from an incident in which he pulled an opponent's hair during a La Liga win over Villarreal that ended 1-0.
Mourinho will be without one of his attack's key figures for a run of league matches that includes the meeting between Real and Barcelona — a side currently holding a six-point advantage at the top of the table. Vinicius was in the starting lineup as his team overturned a two-goal deficit in the closing minutes, eventually defeating Roma 4-3 in the Champions League after falling behind 3-1 with seven minutes remaining.
At a post-match press conference, Mourinho spoke directly to his view that the timing of the announcement had thrown preparations into disarray. He raised the procedural question of whether a four-match suspension handed to a player at a club in Spain — with a high-stakes domestic fixture on the horizon — should have been communicated just two hours before kick-off, and put forward the following morning as a more workable timeframe.
Mourinho questioned why supporters would travel by bus to the stadium only to arrive and find that Vinicius had been handed a four-match ban, adding that those responsible for the decision appeared to be operating without any sense of accountability. Under the applicable rules, notification of a four-match ban is required to reach the affected player no later than two hours before kick-off. The club collected three points that contribute to the country's football federation rankings and its standing within the wider game.
Mourinho also raised objections to the fixture schedule, noting that his team was due to face AEK Athens in Greece on 4 November before a trip to Valencia for a La Liga fixture three days later, and questioned whether communicating a suspension to a player just two hours before kick-off could be considered acceptable practice. A Wednesday fixture in Athens gave way to what he described as a pre-dawn arrival in Madrid — around five in the morning — before a Saturday match in Valencia, all of it falling in the final weekend before the international break.
Mourinho characterised the Valencia fixture as a demanding away assignment and suggested the arrangement did not appear coincidental. He pushed back on the notion that television held the authority to determine when matches were scheduled, saying he no longer accepts that line of reasoning. He added that accepting this particular claim fell outside what he was prepared to do at his stage of life.
Mourinho indicated that the circumstances surrounding the Vinicius notification — surfacing just two hours before kick-off despite the four-match ban already being in place — warranted no further response on his part. Responding to a question about the ban, he characterised the decision as conveying at the very least a lack of respect. He also noted that the rationale now being offered had surfaced in earlier debates, though the conditions driving it today bear little resemblance to those of 25 years ago.
"Real Madrid supporters are not fools, and I will do whatever it takes to change people's perceptions," Mourinho said. His tactical changes altered the contest's direction after Real had been second-best for long stretches before the final stages. A brace from Donyell Malen had put Roma 3-1 ahead shortly after the interval, yet three players introduced from the bench turned the match around — Endrick and Carlos Espí each finding the net, while Arda Güler set up two of the late goals to complete a 4-3 turnaround. Mourinho told reporters afterwards that he would not claim to have plotted the exact scoreline in advance, though he noted that heading into the final 20 minutes he had felt his available substitutions held the potential to alter the course of the game.
