Real Madrid head coach José Mourinho has provided an explanation for his decision to leave star attacker Vinícius Jr. out of his starting line-up this past weekend.
Winger Vinícius of course took his place front and centre in the headlines across Spain once more this past weekend.
En route to Real Madrid securing a return to winning ways at the expense of Villarreal in a La Liga clash, the Brazilian endured an evening to forget…
After netting what looked set to be the goal which put Villarreal’s comeback hopes to bed, Vinícius saw his strike sent to the VAR room.
From here, the 26-year-old was revealed to have pulled the hair of Nathan Saliba in the same sequence which led to his goal, culminating in a straight red card.
All of this came shortly after Vinícius had been introduced off the bench. Speaking to the media this week, José Mourinho was therefore drawn on exactly why he had made the call to leave the South American out of his starting XI.
And during an interview with TNT Sports, as cited by ESPN, Real Madrid’s headmaster went on to explain:
“After the previous match (the 2-1 defeat against Atlético de Madrid), I decided to adopt a different approach: protect him a little and bring him on when the game called for a player like Vini.
“I think it worked. The stadium, which at times had shown dissatisfaction, immediately rallied behind him as soon as he started warming up. I believe that was a crucial turning point for him. He came on and played very well. The goal and the sending-off were a shame, of course, but it seemed like something changed for him, rekindling that joy and reminding him of the kind of player he really is.”
Conor Laird – GSFN
