Marcel Desailly did not hold back. He went straight to the heart of the matter: “The problem is the perception people have of Vinicius.”

The former French defender strongly defended the Real Madrid forward following the incident involving Gianluca Prestianni, winger of Benfica, which led to a UEFA sanction after the Brazilian reported racist insults.

“I’m happy to see Vinicius playing and to see Mourinho has changed his approach to the issue a bit. He can celebrate; he did the last time he scored. There’s no problem. The problem is the perception people have of Vinicius. We have to put an end to that and accept the fact that some things need to change. Because it’s unacceptable, inside a stadium, when these things happen,” said Desailly, speaking in Madrid after the announcement of the nominees for the 2026 Laureus Awards.

Desailly also assessed Real Madrid’s current performances after the 0-1 defeat against Getafe on Monday. While acknowledging room for improvement, he avoided any dramatic conclusions.

“In terms of speed of execution, they aren’t as composed, but they have individual players who can maintain the standard until, collectively, they fine-tune what’s needed to become that famous Real Madrid again. In the meantime, it’s good that they keep a bit of composure,” he explained.

The message was clear: perspective matters, both in how players are judged and how temporary setbacks are interpreted.

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