Mourinho Defends Vinícius and Mbappé Amid Whistles at Bernabéu
Real Madrid return to the Santiago Bernabéu on Saturday against Rayo Vallecano with the mood around the stadium far from straightforward. The team come in off a stuttering spell: a Liga defeat to Real Betis, then a draining but vital Champions League win over Inter Milan.
The result in Europe should have lifted everything. It didn’t.
Instead, the Bernabéu soundtrack turned sour for two of its biggest names. Sections of the home crowd whistled Vinícius and Kylian Mbappé, a reaction that cut through the night as sharply as any tackle. On Friday, José Mourinho walked into his press conference knowing he would have to address it. He didn’t dodge it. He reframed it.
“You only throw stones at trees that have fruit”
Mourinho reached for something from home to explain the tension. A Portuguese proverb.
"In Portugal there is a proverb: you only throw stones at trees that have fruit," he said, quoted by 20Minutos. "You are not going to throw stones at a tree that gives you nothing."
Then he turned that 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."
No hedging. No half-hearted defence. Mourinho made it clear: if the whistles exist, it’s because expectations are sky-high for a player who has already delivered on the biggest nights.
He then widened the lens to include Mbappé, whose performance against Inter, he argued, went far beyond the highlight reel.
Mbappé “defending like an animal”
The Portuguese coach lingered on one sequence from that Inter match. Not a goal. Not a dribble. A defensive sprint.
He praised Mbappé for working "like an animal" down the left in the 90th minute, with Madrid reduced to ten men and Marc Cucurella running on empty.
"I use the same proverb as I did for Vinícius," Mourinho added. "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."
For Mourinho, that image matters as much as any goal. A star forward, shattered, still tracking back in stoppage time. It’s the kind of detail he clings to when he chooses who to protect publicly.
Demanding coach, unwavering backing
Mourinho didn’t hide his feelings about the whistles. He admitted they make him sad when they target his own players. But he drew a clear line: anyone who gives everything on the pitch will have him in their corner, no matter the mistakes, no matter the noise.
The coach even brought up defender Dean Huijsen’s recent comments, in which the youngster described him as demanding and constantly on his case.
"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. "The expectation is that you give everything you have; and whoever gives everything isn't obliged to give more."
That, in Mourinho’s mind, is the pact. Total effort in exchange for total support.
And then he pushed the conversation back towards the Bernabéu itself.
"When there is unity between team and stadium, you are almost unbeatable."
Real Madrid now walk into another home game under that challenge. The coach has chosen his side: with Vinícius, with Mbappé, with anyone who runs to the last second. On Saturday, the question is whether the stands will do the same.
