Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid will contest the third Madrid derby of the season on Saturday. Los Blancos have won both of the previous fixtures, 2-1 in La Liga and 3-1 (AET) in the Copa del Rey.
Alvaro Morata scored the opening goal in the Copa meeting, and he will hope to score in two successive matches at the Santiago Bernabeu this weekend against Carlo Ancelotti’s side.
Morata will face off against Vinicius Jr if he does play for Los Rojiblancos, and in an interview with ESPN (via Marca), the Spanish international gave his opinion on the abuse that his Brazilian counterpart has received this season.
“In the end it doesn’t just happen to him, it happens to all of us. When I play away from home they also insult me. I think it should be about football and that’s it. It’s not something that only happens to Vinicius because he is very mediatic, it happens to many people.
“It’s unacceptable and incomprehensible. It shouldn’t have a place in football. When a person was going to insult (a player) on a pitch, they shouldn’t let him anyone in. A person who is going to insult in such an environment should be banned.”
Morata also went into details on his own experiences of receiving abuse from fans while playing.
“You have a hard time, no matter how much you are prepared and work for those situations. When they tell you to die or say things about your wife or your children, it’s complicated, but we can’t focus on that because it happens every Sunday on every field. It’s not a problem of the players or football, it’s a problem as a country.”
Morata will be hoping to send the Atleti supporters home happy on Saturday, but Real Madrid will be aiming to continue their recent good run of form.
