Jose Mourinho suggests Vinicius Junior could have been SENT OFF during first half of Champions League final

Jose Mourinho has suggested that Real Madrid star Vinicius Junior could have been sent off during the first half of the Champions League final against Borussia Dortmund.

Dortmund and Real Madrid are facing off at Wembley - the first time the London-based stadium has hosted the Champions League final since Dortmund's last appearance in the showpiece match in 2013.

The German side dominated the first half of proceedings, with Niclas Fullkrug hitting the post and Karim Adeyemi seeing an effort blocked from a tight angle.

Real, who didn't have a shot on target during the first 45 minutes, came out stronger after half-time and Dani Carvajal went close.

But they could have done so with only 10 players had the referee made a different decision following an incident involving Vinicius.

The Brazil international was shown a yellow card after colliding with Dortmund goalkeeper Gregor Kobel, and got to half-time unscathed.

But on TNT Sports during the interval, host Laura Woods asked Mourinho whether he was fortunate to stay on the pitch after the commentary team had claimed he had dived.

Mourinho replied: "That's a dive. No doubt, that's a dive.

"That's a dive... no doubt!"

Jose Mourinho believes Vinicius Jr got lucky here as he was already on a booking 🟨

📺 Watch the #UCLfinal on @tntsports & @discoveryplusUK pic.twitter.com/voG6VFGTIl

— Football on TNT Sports (@footballontnt) June 1, 2024

"Then Nico Schlotterbeck gets a yellow card for complaining with the referee. Okay, you have to get the yellow card, but in the end it's a consequence of something that he knew. He knew perfectly that it was a dive."

Real subsequently took the lead on 74 minutes, with the unlikely source of Carvajal heading into the top corner from Toni Kroos' free kick.

And it was Vinicius who made it 2-0 on 83 minutes, scoring his second Champions League final goal to all but seal the deal for Real.

More to follow...