Benfica’s coach explains the conversation he had with Vinicius Júnior, following the goal scored by the Brazilian forward.
José Mourinho, in statements at the press conference after Real Madrid’s 1-0 victory over Benfica in the first leg of the Champions League play-off for access to the Round of 16
Analysis of the defeat against Real Madrid
“It’s a first half with two parts. Up until the goal and after the goal. Up until the goal, it was a good game, with Benfica starting very well and very strongly, but from the 25/30 minute mark, Real Madrid showed a lot of quality and personality. They started to turn the game around and were stronger towards the end of the first half. In the second half, we came out trying to do the same thing we had done in the first. Vinicius scored an amazing goal and then the game was over, there was no more game.”
Controversy with Vinicius and Prestianni…
“I spoke with Vinicius and he told me one thing, Prestianni told me another. I could say that I only believe Prestianni, but in this world of football, I always try to be balanced and I don’t want to say that Vinicius is a liar and Prestianni is an incredible kid. Arbeloa chose to have a different perspective, as did Mbappé. The same thing always happens with the same player in different stadiums, something is not right .
Mourinho’s conversation with Vinicius
I spoke to him and said: ‘You score an out=of=this=world goal, so why are you celebrating like that? Why don’t you celebrate a goal like Di Stéfano, Eusébio, or Pele, with the joy of being an out=of=this=world player?
