Mourinho urges patience as Vinicius Junior begins Real Madrid comeback

Jose Mourinho says Vinicius Junior needs time to recover his full fitness after making his first appearance for Real Madrid during pre-season, while Bernardo Silva must improve his physical condition after also returning to action.

Real Madrid beat Hungarian side Ferencvarosi 2-1 in a friendly at Groupama Arena in Budapest on Saturday evening.

Mario Rivas opened the scoring for Real Madrid before Carlos Espe doubled their advantage. Kenan Kodro scored for the Hungarian side.

Vinicius Junior and Bernardo Silva both made their first appearances for Real Madrid during the current preparations, coming on as second-half substitutes after returning late to training because of their involvement in the World Cup.

Speaking to the club’s media after the match, Mourinho said Vinicius’ contract renewal had been a positive development for both the player and the club.

“The most important thing is the renewal. Renewing his contract is certainly a source of happiness for him, but it is also a source of happiness for all of us,” said the Portuguese coach.

Mourinho explained that neither Vinicius nor Silva had completed much training before being introduced against Ferencvarosi.

“They have had few training sessions, he and Bernardo, and they are players who entered the match after taking part in training for only two weeks,” he added.

“They played while feeling exhausted and tired as a result of the effort and work we have been doing. I did not expect Vinicius today to take the ball, run 50 metres with it and score a goal.”

The Real Madrid manager believes Vinicius will gradually return to his best level and expects to see an improvement in the Brazilian’s condition in their next friendly against Deportivo La Coruna on Wednesday.

“This process takes its time, and he will certainly be in a better condition next Wednesday,” said Mourinho.

Mourinho was similarly cautious when assessing Silva, who recently joined Real Madrid from Manchester City.

“Bernardo is a very important player. He is the type of player who completely disconnects from work mentally and does nothing during the holiday, and he returned with much lower physical fitness, which needs to be improved,” Mourinho said.

“But Bernardo is a wonderful player who gives us an excellent way out with the ball, whether he plays in a deeper position or in midfield, as a number six or eight.”

“During the match I saw that he lacked physical strength, so I moved him into the number 10 position and brought on Cistiero to give us more stability there. Number 10 is another position where Bernardo feels comfortable.”

Mourinho added that Silva’s versatility would be valuable as Real Madrid seek to work with a 20-player squad.

“He is the type of player who can play in three or four positions, and that is excellent for any coach,” he said.

“That is especially important because we want a small squad consisting of only 20 players, in addition to the injured players such as Rodrygo, Eder Militao and Ferland, whom we will not be able to recover in the coming weeks.”