Bayern Munich coach Vincent Kompany has criticized José Mourinho for attacking Vinícius Júnior’s character after the Real Madrid star. accused an opponent of having racially insulted him during a Champions League match.
Benfica coach Mourinho suggested Brazilian striker Vinícius incited Benfica players with his celebrations after scoring the only goal of the match. Tuesday playoff game.
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Vinícius has accused Benfica’s Gianluca Prestianni of calling him a “monkey” during a confrontation after his goal.
Mourinho also questioned why Vinícius, who is black and has been the subject of repeated racist insults in Spain, was so frequently targeted.
“There is something wrong because it happens in all stadiums,” Mourinho said. “In the stadium where Vinícius played, something happened. Always.”
Speaking on Friday, Kompany condemned Mourinho’s comments.
“So after the match you have the leader of an organization, José Mourinho, attacking the character of Vinícius Júnior by introducing the kind of celebration to discredit what Vinícius is doing at the moment,” Kompany said. “And to me, in terms of leadership, that’s a huge mistake and it’s something we shouldn’t accept.”
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Mourinho’s celebrations
UEFA on Wednesday appointed a special investigator to gather evidence about what happened in Lisbon during Madrid’s 1-0 victory in the first leg of the Champions League qualifier. Madrid said it had sent “all available evidence” of the alleged incident to European football’s governing body.
Referring to Vinícius’ celebrations after firing a shot into the top corner, Mourinho said he should “celebrate in a respectful way”.
Kompany highlighted Mourinho’s own history of exuberant celebrations, such as when he ran to the touchline to applaud when his Porto team beat Manchester United in the Champions League.
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Kompany said Mourinho’s former players “love him” and added “I know he’s a good person.”
“I don’t need to judge him as a person, but I know what I heard. I understand maybe what he did, but he made a mistake and it’s something that hopefully won’t happen like that again in the future,” he said.
Prestianni denied racially insulting Vinícius. Benfica said the Argentine player had been the victim of a “smear campaign”.
“The right thing to do”
Kompany said Vinícius’ reaction “cannot be faked”.
“You can see, his reaction is an emotional reaction. I don’t see any benefit for him in going to the referee and putting all this misery on his shoulders,” he said. “There is absolutely no reason for Vini Junior to do this.
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“I think in his mind he’s doing it more because it’s the right thing to do at that time.”
Kompany added: “You have a player who complains. You have a player who says he didn’t do it. And I think if the player doesn’t come forward himself, it’s difficult. It’s a difficult case.”
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James Robson is at https://x.com/jamesalanrobson
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AP Football: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer
