Mourinho Defends Mbappe and Vinicius Amid Booing at Bernabeu

Jose Mourinho has never needed help finding an image or a line. This week at the Bernabeu, he reached for one that cut straight through the noise.

“In Portuguese, we have a proverb that says we only throw stones at the trees that have fruit,” the Real Madrid coach said.

The targets of those stones? Kylian Mbappe and Vinicius Jr – two of the most devastating forwards in Europe, and two players booed by their own supporters in a week that should have belonged to them.

Goals, boos and a restless Bernabeu

On Tuesday night, Mbappe moved joint-fifth in the all-time Champions League scoring charts, striking the opener in a 2-1 win over Inter Milan. It was another landmark in a career built on nights like this, another reminder of his status among the elite.

The soundtrack was not all applause.

Both Mbappe and Vinicius heard jeers from sections of the home crowd, a jarring response inside a stadium that has so often worshipped its attacking heroes. The criticism has circled around their defensive work, their perceived reluctance to track back and graft without the ball.

Mourinho was having none of it.

Asked specifically about Vinicius, he went straight to his record.

“So what Vini has done here over recent years – how many CL has he won, how many goals has he scored, how many balls has he won? His achievements speak for themselves so he is the tree that has a lot of fruit on it and people want to get a piece of Vini.”

The numbers back him. Titles, goals, decisive performances in the biggest games. Mourinho’s point was clear: you don’t get this level of scrutiny unless you are already operating at the very top.

“Very close to his best version”

The coach leaned into the modern obsession with data to underline his argument.

“During this digital era where we have access to so many stats, we can tell that he is very close to getting to his best version. He's even set some records already. The stats and numbers he registers suggest we will see his best version very soon.”

This wasn’t just a defence, it was a prediction. Mourinho sees a player still climbing, not one resting on past glories. The boos, in his eyes, are the price of being the man with the ball, the man expected to decide everything.

Mbappe: 42 goals and still questioned

The same proverb, the same protection, extended to Mbappe.

The Frenchman is among the nominees for this year’s Ballon d’Or after scoring 42 goals in 44 games for his club last season. Those are numbers that usually silence a debate before it starts. At Real Madrid, they seem only to sharpen it.

“I want to remind you of the proverb I said before. He is the tree with a lot of fruit,” Mourinho said. “Obviously a player who scores more than 40 goals for a team is never a problem.

“I saw Kylian giving it his all. He was defending like an animal, even when he had nothing left. His attitude is incredible. It is a joy for me to see a player like that.”

The image of Mbappe “defending like an animal” cuts against the narrative that he coasts when the ball is lost. Mourinho’s message was pointed: if there is a problem at Real Madrid, it is not the forward who scores more than 40 goals and runs himself into the ground.

Two stars, little love

So why the boos? Why this tension between the Bernabeu and its two brightest attacking lights?

Spanish football expert Guillem Balague offered a blunt assessment.

“I don't think anyone really knows [why],” he told 5Live's Euro Leagues podcast. “There was a bit about the past, of two years of no winning. But the two main stars are not that liked by the fans.”

Real Madrid ended last season without a trophy. For a club built on silverware, that kind of drought – even over just two years – always leaves a mark. The frustration needs a target. For some, it has settled on the men expected to deliver the decisive moments.

With Mbappe, there is history. And memory.

“Mbappe feels a little bit cold, sometimes he can be like Cristiano Ronaldo and he speaks like he is bigger than Real Madrid,” Balague said. “And also, he said no to Real Madrid about three times before and maybe they haven't forgotten that - but without Mbappe's goals, the club would be in a very different place.”

The sense of distance matters. The perception that he once turned his back on the club lingers, no matter what he does in white. He scores, he runs, he fights – and still, for some, he remains the outsider who arrived late.

Vinicius under the microscope

Vinicius faces a different kind of scrutiny. His energy without the ball has often been questioned, his temperament dissected, his every gesture magnified.

Against Inter, Balague saw a player putting in the hard yards.

“And Vinicius worked really hard without the ball, but they just don't forgive him anything even though he did renew his contract. It's a bit of a mystery but I think he is feeling the heat of it.”

Workrate or not, the margin for error is thin. A misplaced dribble, a lost duel, a flash of frustration – the reaction can be instant. Renewal of his contract hasn’t softened the spotlight; if anything, it has intensified it.

Stones, trees and a demanding crowd

Mourinho’s proverb lingers over all of this. The stones keep flying because the trees keep producing. Mbappe moves up the Champions League scoring charts. Vinicius edges closer, statistically, to what his coach calls his “best version”.

The Bernabeu, as ever, demands everything. It has never been a stadium that settles for enough, even from its superstars. That edge has forged legends and broken others.

Right now, two of the most gifted forwards of their generation are living inside that tension – cheered and whistled, celebrated and doubted, often in the same night.

The fruit is there. The question is whether this crowd chooses to taste it, or keep reaching for more stones.