Mourinho criticises timing of Vinicius suspension announcement, reveals remontada secret

José Mourinho, the manager of Real Madrid, has launched a fierce attack on the timing of the announcement regarding Vinicius Junior's four-match suspension during the press conference following the 4-3 victory over Roma in the second round of the UEFA Champions League.

Mourinho said: "The first half is the coach's responsibility, and the second half is the players' responsibility. I always think about the principle of merit, and I never want to do anything bad. But football is a 90-minute match, it's a strategic game, and the opponents play too, and today's opponent was very strong. They are a terrifying team, and I knew our players' energy would run out; it's impossible to play at this pace for 90 minutes."

He added: "We made the changes that I thought were necessary, but they thrashed us in the first half. They surprised us with Soule Sidibe on the wing, which made it difficult for Cucurella to face Wesley, and we found ourselves in two-on-one situations many times. After reorganizing in the second half, we became more stable, but we conceded a goal that we shouldn't have conceded."

"If they had scored four or five goals, they would have said I was crazy, and if we win, they will say I made a mistake in the first half. But we have achieved six points against Inter and Roma, who are the best two teams in Italy."

When asked about his anger following Roma's second goal, Mourinho shifted to discuss the decision to suspend Vinicius Junior, stating: "Is it normal for a player to know two hours before the match that he will be suspended for four games? You don't need to answer my question. Was it impossible to announce the decision now or tomorrow morning? Was it necessary to announce it while we were on our way to the stadium?"

The Portuguese coach cited a popular saying, stating: "In Portuguese, we say: 'The cat is hiding but its tail is visible.' I believe the cat is no longer hiding now; it is moving freely, and things are happening without shame."

"Two hours before the match, a player in a Spanish team knows that he will miss four matches for the reputation of Spanish football. I don't think this is normal, but I have started to consider it normal, because the cat is no longer hiding."

Regarding Vinicius Junior's performance, Mourinho took responsibility for what happened in the first half, explaining: "The first half is my fault, or Gasperini's fault. He put Soule Sidibe in that position, and Wesley was tormenting us due to his numerical superiority in duels. It was difficult for Vinicius."

He continued: "In the second half, I gave him the freedom to move and play in other areas, and Wesley started to lose his energy against Diomande. Vinicius lost the ball in a moment he shouldn't have lost it, but it ended there, and I also make mistakes."

Jose Mourinho expressed his regret over what happened with the Brazilian star, saying: "It is unfortunate that this happens now, at a time when he was regaining his form and growing again and feeling happy."

Regarding Vinicius Junior's objection to his substitution, Mourinho said: "It's natural not to be happy. If he does what many do, like throwing a water bottle, I don't like that. Frustration is normal, but he was very happy after the match because of the win."

He added that the player tried to control his emotions before the match, explaining: "The player tries to isolate his feelings, and I had to do the same to play here in my home stadium, among people I love. The player must have this ability too, and I think he handled it well. What happened in the first half is the responsibility of Gasperini, not Vinicius Junior."

Regarding the impact of the changes, Mourinho defended his decisions, saying: "If we had started the match with the eleven players who finished it, they would have scored five goals against us. It was impossible to keep up with a team that has such physical strength and high rhythm. There are different times in a match, and sometimes a coach is foolish for thinking in the wrong way, and sometimes he is brilliant for thinking in the right way. I wasn't planning to turn the score from 1-3 to 4-3, but I thought the last minutes required changing some things."

"I told the players that it is difficult for a player like Mancini to mark his opponent man-to-man for the entire match while carrying a yellow card, because their style of play creates many complicated situations. And when Hermoso ran out of energy, Endrick came on. Give me some credit, I did something right."

Mourinho has returned to criticize the timing of the announcement of Vinicius Junior's suspension, pointing to the pressure of the fixture schedule. He said: "Playing in Athens on Wednesday evening, then arriving in Madrid at 5 AM, and then playing a match on Saturday in Valencia, during the week leading up to the international break, does not seem innocent to me."

He added: "I don't believe the usual excuses that say it was because of television. I am too old to believe that. As for the story of Vinicius knowing he was suspended for four matches two hours before the match, it is not worth commenting on. Real Madrid fans are not stupid."

Regarding the player Esbi, Mourinho revealed the behind-the-scenes of his choice, saying: "When the possibility of Gonzalo's departure arose, whom I loved and saw as a good signing for Real Madrid, three names were presented to me, and Esbi was one of them. They did very well."

He concluded by pointing out the difficulty for strikers to get playing opportunities with Kylian Mbappé in the team, saying: "It's not easy for any striker to be in the same team as Kylian, due to his quality, and rotating a player of his level is not an easy task. Mbappé will not play against Sevilla, but opportunities arise, and Esbi has always responded when he got them."