Mourinho Defends Vinícius and Mbappé Ahead of Rayo Vallecano Clash
Real Madrid return to the Santiago Bernabéu on Saturday with the noise around them almost as loud as the occasion. A Liga meeting with Rayo Vallecano awaits, but the build-up has been dominated less by tactics and more by whistles.
A league defeat to Real Betis, then a draining but vital Champions League win over Inter Milan: it has been a jagged week. The victory should have settled nerves. Instead, parts of the Bernabéu turned on two of the club’s biggest stars, Vinícius and Kylian Mbappé, with whistles cutting through the night.
On Friday, José Mourinho stepped in front of the microphones and, as so often, in front of his players.
Mourinho shields Vinícius and Mbappé
He did not attack the fans. He did not ignore them either. He chose a proverb.
“In Portugal there is a proverb: you only throw stones at trees that have fruit,” Mourinho said, quoted by 20Minutos. “You are not going to throw stones at a tree that gives you nothing.”
Then he turned the image directly onto Vinícius.
“What Vini has done here in recent years, how many Champions Leagues he has won, how many goals he has scored, he is a tree that has a lot of fruit. People throw stones because they want fruit, they want the best from Vinicius.”
It was a reminder and a warning rolled into one. Criticism, yes. Contempt, no.
Mourinho made it clear he feels the whistles. He also made it clear where he stands: with the players who empty themselves on the pitch.
He admitted the reaction hurts him.
He does not forget it.
Mbappé’s work without the ball
If Vinícius drew most of the noise, Mbappé drew most of Mourinho’s praise for the work nobody usually talks about.
The coach went back to the closing stages against Inter, when Madrid finished with ten men and had to suffer. He painted the picture: a star forward sprinting back, not strolling.
“I use the same proverb as I did for Vinícius,” Mourinho continued. “There are things I see and value highly. I watched a team playing in the 90th minute, down to ten men for the final two minutes, and I saw Mbappe playing as a left-winger, defending while a man down, covering for Cucurella, who was already dead on his feet.
“Kylian was exhausted too, yet he spent those two minutes defending the left flank like an animal, urged on by a very demanding coach who wouldn't stop shouting and motivating him.”
Defending “like an animal” on the left wing in the 90th minute is not usually the headline act for Mbappé. Mourinho wanted it to be. For him, those two minutes say as much as any goal.
That, he argued, is what should matter when judgement comes from the stands.
“A real pain” – and proud of it
The Portuguese coach then widened the lens. This is not just about two forwards. It is about how he works and who he will go to war for.
He brought up comments from defender Dean Huijsen, who had described him as demanding, even difficult.
“I’ve read comments from Huijsen saying I’m a real pain, that I’m always on his case, and that’s somewhat true,” Mourinho said.
He did not deny it. He embraced it.
“The expectation is that you give everything you have; and whoever gives everything isn't obliged to give more. When there is unity between team and stadium, you are almost unbeatable.”
That last line hung in the air. Unity. Team and stadium.
Madrid now step back into Bernabéu life against Rayo with that challenge as much as any tactical question: will the whistles return, or will Mourinho’s “trees with fruit” be allowed to grow in peace?
