Mourinho alleges 'bullying' of Vinicius from Espanyol players and fans

[p]Real, who kicked off Mourinho's return to the club with a late victory, ‌were furious inside the opening five minutes when [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/calatrava-alex/b13gbSqm/"]Alex Calatrava[/a] ‌brought down Vinicius from behind and then appeared to catch him again ‌while the forward was on the ground.[/p][p]Madrid's players appealed for ‌a red card but the referee took no action against Calatrava, who later scored Espanyol's equaliser after Jude Bellingham had put Real ahead.[/p][p]Late Real substitute ‌Carlo Espi struck in the 90th minute to ⁠give the visitors victory.[/p][p]Mourinho said ‌the treatment of Vinicius had become a recurring theme.[/p][embed guid="1e5e4640-6665-4423-ab16-c17157abd2b0" url="https://x.com/DAZNPortugal/status/2091255816967934257" social-type="twitter" /][p]"[b]Vinicius is no saint, ​but what they're doing to him was too much. Right from the first minute. It's a pattern that repeats ​itself from one opponent to the next,[/b]" Mourinho said.[/p][p][b]"I'll give him one, now you give him one. If I get a ⁠yellow card, you give ​him one. If I'm substituted, another player comes on who hasn't been booked yet, and you give him one.[/b]"[/p][p]The Portuguese coach said Vinicius, who has often been the focus of abuse from rival defenders ‌and crowds, needed to stay composed despite the provocation.[/p][p]"[b]He needs to have a lot of emotional control. I've told him that if he scores a goal, he needs to be careful how he celebrates it,[/b]" Mourinho said.[/p][p]"[b]We're in an era where society is against bullying, yet with Vini we're still seeing bullying – from opponents and from the crowd. We have to educate him and prepare him as best we can, and that's it.[/b]"[/p][embed guid="b61fd0d6-b2d0-4c41-9951-6857ddd5ee7c" url="https://x.com/TouchlineX/status/2091277466937475182" social-type="twitter" /][p]The controversy also carried ‌echoes of last season, when Mourinho was Benfica manager and Vinicius ​was subjected to discriminatory abuse by Benfica's [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/prestianni-gianluca/C2bbqoRj/"]Gianluca Prestianni[/a] during ‌a Champions League match against Real Madrid.[/p][p]Prestianni was later handed a six-match suspension by UEFA for discriminatory conduct that was deemed homophobic.[/p][p]Mourinho was heavily criticised at the time for defending Prestianni, saying Vinicius had incited the crowd with his goal ⁠celebrations and Benfica were anything ⁠but racist because the Portuguese ‌club's greatest player, Eusebio, was also Black.[/p]