Real Madrid forward Vinicius Junior has admitted he was angry after being substituted by manager Jose Mourinho during the club’s dramatic 4-3 Champions League victory over AS Roma in Italy....
Real Madrid forward Vinicius Junior has admitted he was angry after being substituted by manager Jose Mourinho during the club’s dramatic 4-3 Champions League victory over AS Roma in Italy.
Vinicius was replaced by Brazilian youngster Endrick in the 59th minute on Wednesday, shortly after Roma extended their lead to 3-1 at the Stadio Olimpico.
However, Real Madrid staged a remarkable comeback, scoring three goals in the final seven minutes to secure victory through Carlos Espí, Endrick and Antonio Rudiger.
“I was a little angry with him for taking me off, but that’s normal. And in the end, he was right. The team changed. It improved,” Vinicius said.
The 26-year-old acknowledged that he was struggling to rediscover his best form but expressed confidence in his ability to recover.
“Right now, I’m working to get back to my best as soon as possible. I know I’m not at my best, but I’ve been through worse periods and come back from them,” he added.
The Brazilian also questioned the four-match suspension imposed on him following his dismissal during Real Madrid’s 1-0 victory over Villarreal, where he was sent off after pulling an opponent’s hair.
“I didn’t say a single offensive word to the referee that would justify giving me […] punishment,” he maintained.
Vinicius said he remained focused on improving his performance and making further progress in his career.
“I’m here to keep developing, to keep improving, because I know where I’ve come from, where I started and how far I can go,” he said.
Meanwhile, Roma goalkeeper Pierluigi Gollini acknowledged that conceding similar goals had affected the team’s confidence.
He urged his teammates to learn from the defeat and use the experience as motivation for their next fixture.
“We need to hold onto what we did well to give us a boost, and let what we did wrong give us that extra hunger to be even more fired up for the next one,” Gollini said.
Real Madrid’s victory maintained their strong start to the Champions League campaign, while the late turnaround highlighted the impact of Mourinho’s substitutions, particularly Endrick’s introduction.