Vinicius Jr booed by Bernabeu fans vs Inter Milan

Real Madrid beat Inter Milan 2-1 in their opening fixture of the 2026-27 Champions League campaign, but the Brazilian's night was defined as much by the crowd's reaction as by anything he did with the ball.

The boos arrived early. In the 14th minute, on his first one-on-one of the match, Vinicius lost possession and the home end let him know about it. Two warning grumbles had already gone up over Madrid's laboured start against the visitors before that jeer turned into something louder. The whistles were cut short only by Kylian Mbappe's opener moments later, in the same minute.

Inter dominated the ball for long spells and had the better chances, but first-half goals from Mbappe and Federico Valverde put Jose Mourinho's side in control. Carlos Augusto pulled one back for the Serie A champions on 77 minutes, and The tension in the ground rose with every Madrid failure to see the game out, and former Real Madrid midfielder Steve McManaman, working as a pundit for TNT Sports, said the anger was aimed squarely at the winger after a second-half giveaway.

"You can hear the whistles at Vinicius Junior. Listen to that… they are not happy with Vini Junior at all. He certainly has a love-hate relationship with the fans," McManaman said.

Vinicius was substituted in the 87th minute to a mixed reception, scattered applause drowned out by more whistles, though Mourinho made a point of applauding him off. The 26-year-old failed to hit the target with any of his three shots but still covered more ground with the ball than any other Madrid player, driving forward with eight progressive carries for 342 yards.

Mourinho used his post-match press conference to defend his forward, framing his comments as a manager's view rather than a rebuke of the supporters.

"I am not criticizing the fans; I am speaking as a coach and about my relationship with him, who deserves complete respect. He is not at his best, that is something we all see, but he is the first to know it, and he is working very hard to be the Vinícius who decides matches. But despite not being at top form, he is working harder than ever in training and in matches," Mourinho said.

The reaction comes after a summer in which Vinicius was strongly linked with a move to Premier League champions Arsenal, a saga that has left his standing with the Bernabeu crowd unsettled even as he remains on the pitch.