Vinicius is out, and Mourinho has already said the quiet part
Vinicius Júnior is suspended for the Sevilla match after his red card against Villarreal, a dismissal that came from a hair-pull at Nathan Saliba (1). Real Madrid lost their left winger to a ban they could not overturn. Then José Mourinho made it a story of his own.
"If I was Vinicius and in his situation, I probably wouldn't be here," he said, with Arsenal's summer interest as the backdrop (3). Mourinho followed it by praising the player's loyalty, insisting Madrid is his home (8). Both things can be true, and both landed in the same week. Winger unavailable, coach talking about the road not taken.
Fourth place, and it does not feel like fourth place
Eight games, 18 points, fourth in La Liga, +11 (fact sheet). The form line reads W W L W W. That record is fine. The football under it is not always.
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1–0 against Villarreal at home was control (fact sheet). Elche 2–3 and Roma 3–4 were two games where Madrid won by scoring more than they should have needed to, and Roma's Gasperini said losing that way was "devastating, because the performance had been so good" (10). Roma then beat Genoa 2–0 (10). Read that sequence properly: the team Madrid edged on Wednesday went out and handled their league business without complaint. Gasperini's side lost the game and won the argument about who played better.
The pattern is not a slump. It is a team that gives opponents a route back in, every week, and survives on the quality of the front line.
Mourinho is not buying, and that is the point
Asked about Martin Zubimendi and a January move, Mourinho was flat: "I'm not asking for anything. I'm satisfied with the squad and the players" (7). Take him at his word. No winter rescue is coming for the defence.
That puts the emphasis on the work already in motion. Madrid are ready to close Jude Bellingham's renewal before Premier League clubs can circle (2) (4). Luka Vuskovic is on a list for 2027 (5). Wesley França, the Roma full-back, has Liverpool, Arsenal and Madrid watching him, and Manchester United joining the queue (11). This is a club fixing the squad through contracts and future windows, not through panic.
What to watch
Sevilla come to the Bernabéu at 21:00 CEST on Sunday. Mourinho has three options to fill the left side without Vinicius (1), and Arda Güler is in contention to start (6). Güler starting is the more interesting call, because it hands Madrid a passer where they usually have a runner.
After that, RB Leipzig at home on Wednesday, then Barcelona away on 25 October. Vinicius should be back for the Clásico. The question is whether Madrid's defence is still giving away the goals that make his return necessary.
