Jose Mourinho's new low: Benfica boss embarrassed himself with hypocritical and unhelpful reaction to Vinicius Junior racism row

After Roma's loss to Sevilla in the 2023 UEFA Cup final in Budapest, Mourinho waited in the carpark to call match referee Anthony Taylor a "f*cking disgrace" - which makes for a crude but rather accurate way of describing the Portuguese coach's reaction to the Vinicius-Prestianni racism row.

You see, for Mourinho, and countless other idiots, Vinicius had once again brought the abuse upon himself - which represented a depressing new low for the seemingly 'Stupid One'.

"I told him him - when you score a goal like that you just celebrate and walk back. When he was arguing about racism, I told him the biggest person [Eusebio] in the history of this club was black," the 63-year-old told Amazon Prime.

"This club, the last thing that it is, is racist. If in his mind there was something in relation to that – this in Benfica. They [Vinicius and Gianluca Prestianni] told me different things. But I don't believe in one or another. I want to be an independent.

"These talents are able to do these beautiful things, but unfortunately he [Vinicius Junior] was not just happy to score that astonishing goal. When you score a goal like that, you celebrate in a respectful way."

Quite what Eusebio's legendary status at the Estadio da Laz had to do with anything that happened on Tuesday night is anyone's guess. Maybe Mourinho was foolishly suggesting that nobody connected to the club could possibly be capable of racial abuse because the most famous figure in the club's history was black.

If that was the case, it was horribly flawed logic - because racism is, by its very nature nonsensical, nothing than an irrational hatred of another human being simply and usually because of the colour of the skin.

That's why we, in the football world, are regularly subjected to the ludicrous sight and sound of supporters of teams packed with players of all sorts of ethnicities racially abusing opponents.

We should perhaps be thankful that Mourinho stopped short of calling Vinicius "a liar". He instead left that to Benfica, who posted a video in the early hours of the morning and argued that "the images demonstrate, given the distance, the Real Madrid players could not have heard what they claim to have heard."

The shameful crux of Mourinho's argument, though, was that Vinicius was not so much a victim but a provocateur. 

Mourinho pointed to the fact that Tuesday wasn't the first time that almost an entire arena had turned on Vinicius.

"There is something wrong because it happens in every stadium," the Benfica boss stated. "A stadium where Vinicius plays something happens, always."

Obviously, that's not true. Vinicius is by no means a universally popular player. His petulance and propensity for diving are hardly endearing traits.

But the implication that he causes trouble wherever he goes is wrong in both senses of the word, because as well as being incorrect, it also supports the incredibly dangerous and damaging narrative long established in Spain that Vinicius provokes people into racial abuse.

Remember, supposedly disrespectful dancing has long been used as a stick with which to beat Vinicius, who, at times, has been left to fight racism in La Liga almost singlehandedly while enduring numerous death threats. 

All the way back in September 2022, Pedro Bravo, the president of Spanish football agents, infamously told El Chiringuito in September 2022, "When you score a goal, if you want to dance Samba, you should go to sambodromo in Brazil. You have to respect your opponents and stop playing the monkey."

Of course, the mere fact that Mourinho felt he was in a position to lecture Vinicius on how to celebrate goals was the definition of unintentional irony.

The former Chelsea, Inter and Manchester United manager has never been subjected to racial abuse during his coaching career but when he has been targeted by opposition fans, he's repeatedly reacted with inflammatory gestures.

Why, then, is it okay for Mourinho to respond with a cupped ear or finger of the mouth to a victory - but not for Vinicius to celebrate a stunning strike in the Champions League with a joyous nod to his Brazilian heritage?

Why is it one rule for a sprint down the Old Trafford touchline, and another for a display of samba at the Stadium of Light? Maybe Mourinho will explain it to us ahead of next week's return fixture at the Santiago Bernabeu, as it would be great to hear more about acceptable behaviour from a man who has previously eye-gouged a rival coach.

What Mourinho really needs to do, though, is apologise for defending the indefensible.

Clarence Seedorf was one of many people astounded by the former Madrid coach's take on Tuesday's events in Lisbon but was hopeful that it was simply a case of Mourinho's emotions getting the better of him after a controversial clash in which he'd also been sent off for insulting the referee.

"I think he made a big mistake today to justify racial abuse," the Dutch legend said on Amazon. "He's saying it's OK when Vinicius provokes you to be racist - and I think that is very wrong.

"We should never, ever justify racial abuse. Vinicius has had enough of that unjustified behaviour from people.

"I know Mourinho by heart would agree with me but he expressed himself a bit, unfortunately, I believe."

The sad thing is, though, that we're not dealing with an isolated incident here. Vincius Junior alone has found himself at the centre of a racism row on far too many occasions - and through no fault of his own. 

But it's also now seven years since Moise Kean's own team-mate, Leonardo Bonucci, said that the striker should accept 50 percent of the blame for racist abuse he received while celebrating a goal by standing silently and defiantly in front of a Cagliari crowd that had been subjecting him to monkey chants for the entire game - which just begs the question: has anything changed in the interim? Have any lessons been learned at all? The shameful scenes in Lisbon would suggest not - because it still feels as if Mourinho and so many others still don't get it. 

It's not about the nature of the celebration. It's about the completely unjustified response. As a result, the focus simply has to now shift from blaming the victims of racism to prosecuting the perpetrators.

As Vinicius himself wrote on Tuesday night, "Racists are, above all, cowards. They need to put their shirts in their mouths to show how weak they are. But they have the protection of others who, theoretically, have an obligation to punish them."

But the responsibility to finally take adequate action doesn't just fall on UEFA and the rest of the game's authorities. There's also an arguably even more important onus on Mourinho and other-like minded morons within the game to start supporting those who stand up to racism - rather than immediately attacking them.