Vinicius Jr's four-match ban is a blessing in disguise for Real Madrid

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FT Desk

It is the 58th minute of a Champions League clash between Real Madrid and Roma at the Stadio Olimpico in the Italian capital.

Jose Mourinho is furious on the touchline, having witnessed his team go two goals behind against the team he previously managed. A minute prior, Roma striker Donyell Malen scored his second goal of the game with a smart finish as the Giallorossi went 3-1 up against Los Blancos.

Up until that point, Madrid had been turgid save for a 25th-minute equaliser from Kylian Mbappe.

In the 59th minute, Mourinho made the bold (yet not really bold) decision to withdraw superstar winger Vinicius Junior before the hour mark. The Brazilian, in typical fashion, did not take too kindly to the substitution.

It took a while, but Madrid ended up scoring three goals in the last 10 minutes to complete a remarkable comeback to win 4-3, with Vini Jr sitting on the bench.

Carlos Espi scored to make it 3-2, Vini's replacement Endrick headed home to make it 3-3 and Antonio Rudiger popped up from close range after another corner-kick to emerge as the match winner.

It is no coincidence that Mourinho's men pressed harder for goals and improved overall following Vinicius' withdrawal, as he put in yet another abject performance for less than an hour.

In his 59 minutes on the pitch, he contributed zero goals, zero assists, zero shots on target, zero shots, zero interceptions, zero tackles, zero dribbles completed and also lost possession six times.

That's a ludicrously bad contribution from a footballer who is now said to be on around €22 million a year.

It would be harsh to use Vini's exorbitant salary as a stick with which to beat him if this were a one-off poor performance, but he has been woefully underperforming ever since he put pen to paper on that lucrative new deal.

In 10 appearances for Madrid this season across La Liga and the Champions League, he has scored just one goal and it came when the team were already leading against Real Sociedad.

He has also failed to complete 90 minutes in any of Real Madrid's last five matches.

Against Roma and Atletico Madrid he was taken off before the hour mark, against Elche he was withdrawn in the 68th minute, against Villarreal he was sent off with 18 minutes remaining and he came off as a late substitute in the 4-1 win against Rayo Vallecano.

It was that dismissal against Villarreal that may prove to be a blessing in disguise, as he has now been given a four-match ban, meaning he will miss fixtures against Sevilla, Racing Santander, Valencia and, crucially, the Clasico against Barcelona on 25 October. He was banned for two games for pulling the hair of Nathan Saliba and then a further two for his complaints to the referee.

Rest assured, he will not be missed in any of these games as Mourinho should take this opportunity to give more balance to his side. The Vinicius Junior-Mbappe partnership has not worked at all this season as they regularly occupy the same positions as each other on the pitch.

For these four games, the Portuguese boss should look at placing Mbappe down the left wing and giving a start to Espi, who has three goals in just 38 minutes of football this season - all of which were crucial.

Following the Roma game, Mourinho was highly critical of La Liga for announcing Vini's suspension two hours before the Champions League clash against Roma.

"Do you think it's normal that a player from a Spanish team, who has to play a match that is also important for Spanish football, that two hours before the match a player knows he's been given a four-match suspension?" he asked.

"Couldn't they do it tomorrow morning? Do we have to come by bus and almost arrive at the stadium when we find out Vinicius has a four-match suspension?

"They do things shamelessly now. The cat is out of the bag now. Two hours before the match, a player must know he has a four-match suspension.

"A Spanish team that has earned three points for Spanish football, for the rankings, for the prestige of Spanish football. You want to kill a player two hours before the match? It doesn't seem normal to me."

Even though Mourinho is publicly furious about the suspension, there will undoubtedly be a part of him that is relieved that Madrid can attempt to get their season back on track over the next four games without Vini dragging the team down further.