The British writer Matthew Syed launched a sharp attack on the Portuguese coach José Mourinho, following his statements regarding allegations that Real Madrid star Vinícius Júnior was subjected to racial abuse during the match against Benfica. Syed considered that the Portuguese coach crossed the red lines in the way he handled the issue.

Said criticized Mourinho's defense of his club by citing Benfica legend Eusebio as evidence of the absence of racism within the club, describing this approach as an outdated and unacceptable justification. He also pointed out that Mourinho tried to cast doubt on Vinicius's account and implied that the player might have contributed to provoking the incident himself.

The article considered Mourinho's statements as representing a "new low" in the public discourse on racism, accusing him of engaging in a form of "victim blaming," which undermines the general consensus within the sports community that racism is unacceptable in any form, even in the absence of conclusive evidence of the incident.

Said emphasized that Mourinho's statements were more damaging than the incident itself, calling for the Portuguese coach to be held accountable and stressing the responsibility of leading figures in football to clearly and explicitly condemn racism. He considered that any justification or doubt about players' complaints threatens the efforts made to combat the phenomenon.