Vinicius loses Mourinho's trust as benching decision looms

Vinicius Junior continues to lose his place at Real Madrid, as the Brazilian player has less trust from coach José Mourinho due to his declining form and failure to perform as expected at the start of the current season.

Real Madrid faced Atlético in the Spanish capital derby, which ended in a 2-1 victory for the latter. This match witnessed a new decision from Mourinho regarding Vinicius Junior, as he decided to substitute him in the 54th minute following another disappointing performance from the Brazilian winger.

Mourinho did not hesitate to substitute Vinicius Junior, while keeping Kylian Mbappé on the pitch until the final whistle, a decision reflecting the growing gap in the coach's confidence in the duo recently.

According to the Spanish newspaper "Marca", José Mourinho's patience with Vinicius Junior is reportedly wearing thin, which has been clearly reflected in his decisions during recent matches.

Mourinho has been managing the minutes of Vinicius Junior and Mbappé closely at the start of the season to avoid repeating previous issues related to the comparison between the stars of Real Madrid, but this balance is beginning to collapse in favour of the French star.

Vinicius Junior has lost a lot of José Mourinho's trust during the last four matches, having been substituted in all of them. He left the pitch against Inter in the 87th minute, against Rayo Vallecano in the 89th minute, then against Elche in the 68th minute, before departing the match against Atlético in the 54th minute.

In contrast, Kylian Mbappé has played all seven matches, while Vinicius Junior has only completed three matches, bringing the total minutes for the French star to 720 minutes compared to 652 minutes for the Brazilian.

The attacking statistics reveal a clear difference between the players, with Mbappé scoring 8 goals in 8 matches, while Vinicius Junior managed just 1 goal and provided 3 assists, in addition to winning a penalty during the match against Real Betis.

Despite being a regular starter and accumulating a significant number of minutes since the start of the season, Vinicius Junior ranks fifth in Real Madrid's top scorers list, behind Mbappé, Jude Bellingham, Arda Güler, and Espi. This situation is particularly striking with Espi, who has scored more goals than Vinicius despite participating in only 5 matches and totaling 26 minutes.

With the international break approaching, Mourinho has the chance to reassess his options, but Vinicius Junior's future in the starting lineup appears to be one of the key issues the Portuguese manager will address in the coming period.