Jose Mourinho backs struggling Vinicius Junior after Real Madrid win

Jose Mourinho defended Vinicius Junior following a big win because of strong squad depth.

Written by the BettingEdgeHub desk, 22 October 2026

Real Madrid cruised to a four to one victory at home in the Champions League against RB Leipzig. Bernardo Silva and Arda Guler and Kylian Mbappe and Yan Diomande scored the goals. Mbappe has scored in five straight matches in this competition for his club.

Vinicius form concerns

Vinicius Junior has hit a bad patch of form since the arrival of Jose Mourinho. The winger did not attempt a single dribble in his last two matches across all competitions. That is a strange statistic for a player known for taking on defenders.

Manager defends player

Jose Mourinho insisted he was happy with the performance of Vinicius during the match. The manager explained that the forward carried a heavy defensive workload to stop the opponents. He also noted that the substitution was simply about using squad depth rather than punishment.

Impact from the bench

Substitute Yan Diomande became the youngest Madrid player to score and assist in a Champions League match. Diomande and other bench options brought fresh speed to the pitch. This shows the attacking strength available to the manager.

What it means for a bet

Punters should watch the odds for Vinicius to score as his price might drift while his form and dribble stats remain low.

Carry on from here

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