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At the end of Tuesday night’s dizzying 2-2 draw with Bayern Munich, Real Madrid’s press officer quickly tracked down Vinicius on the pitch and handed him a training top.
The Brazilian was half-naked after swapping jerseys with Bayern substitute Brian Zaragoza, with the visitors seemingly not wanting him to catch a cold. That’s because Real Madrid can’t afford any panic from their star player, who just saved the team from the fire with two goals in the first leg of the Champions League semi-finals.
He did it as a No.9 on a night when the 14-time European Cup/Champions League winners faced Harry Kane, the forward their coach Carlo Ancelotti had called upon in vain last summer.
Real Madrid were interested in more than just testing the waters with Kane, who eventually joined Bayern from Tottenham Hotspur. Ancelotti’s team welcomed Joselu, a 33-year-old loan player at the time, who had just been relegated with Espanyol. In a season plagued by injuries and lacking centre-backs and forwards, the Italian coach has become an expert at survival.
In the first part, he created a new position for another summer signing, Jude Bellingham, who had scored 17 goals in 21 appearances before the Christmas break. In the second half, he helped Vinicius Junior reach a new level while gradually focusing on his position and even turning him into the leader of Madrid’s forward line.
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Vinicius Jr.’s first goal of the night was a pure striker’s masterpiece, with his deft movement creating space behind him and his clinical shot past the approaching Neuer. The Brazilian ran to the corner flag to celebrate, kissed the Madrid crest on his jersey, danced and spread his arms like Bellingham did after scoring, and then walked back onto the pitch.
Vinicius Junior bows to Kroos after scoring (Kiril Kudryavtsev/AFP/Getty Images)
There, he bowed to Toni Kroos, with more than half his teammates already gathered around him. In his previous home game, Kroos’s through ball was very beautiful. Although he downplayed the incident afterwards.
“The credit goes to Vinnie, who gave me the pass with his movement. As far as I know, he always goes into space. The pass is not that special,” Kroos said.
“We train together a lot and we know each other very well,” said Vinicius Junior, who became just the fourth player in Champions League history to score in three consecutive semi-finals.
But Madrid started the game badly, very badly. Ancelotti was very, very angry.
In the 10th minute, he turned and held out four fingers to his son and assistant coach David, complaining that their players had lost possession of the ball multiple times. Substitutes Eder Militao and Dani Ceballos stood up from the bench and shouted encouragement in the direction of the pitch.
That mood suddenly changed about 15 minutes later when Kroos and Vinicius Junior teamed up to score with an extremely simple move. After receiving the ball in midfield, Kroos immediately saw what was coming next and pointed the way for his teammates. Vinicius the Younger understood what he meant and carried it out. This is unexpected. Bayern are in trouble, even though their manager Thomas Tuchel almost saw it coming.
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“If you look at their goals or chances and then go back 10 seconds, you don’t see them coming,” Tuchel said before the game.
In the second half, Bayern counterattacked strongly. Leroy Sane’s powerful strike wreaked havoc. On the sidelines, Ancelotti scolded Vinicius Junior and Aureliano Tsouameny. Four minutes later, when Kane was about to take a penalty kick and the home team led 2-1, national teammate Bellingham tried to stop him, and Vinicius Jr. once again had a quick meeting with Ancelotti.
And, as he had done many times before, the Brazilian led the rebellion on the big stage.
Madrid didn’t give up, they never would. Their fans, numbering 4,000 in the away stands at the Allianz Arena, watched the game as if it were a final, chanting “Hasta el Final, vamos Real!” (“To the end, let’s go real!”).
In the 83rd minute, when Vinicius Junior’s deft feet found Rodrigo in the penalty area, there was no suspense about who would take the penalty kick after the latter fouled. Vinicius Jr., who scored from the penalty spot in El Clasico against Barcelona nine days ago, will be shouldering the responsibility again. Lucas Vazquez collected the ball back and pushed away several Bayern players who tried to disturb his teammates.
Little Vinicius put it down carefully and wiped the sweat from his face with his shirt. The noise was almost deafening.
But Real Madrid’s Brazilian magic weapon slipped quietly under pressure. He scored again and once again went to the corner to celebrate. Objects thrown from the stands fell around him and he celebrated the moment by pointing to the No. 7 jersey on his back – the same jersey his idol Cristiano Ronaldo had worn for so long in Madrid.
By scoring Neuer’s penalty kick, he has contributed 32 goals for Real Madrid this season (21 goals and 11 assists), one goal ahead of Bellingham.
🤳 @ViniJr 🤳#UCL pic.twitter.com/RIBxnYbZWg
— Real Madrid (@realmadrid) April 30, 2024
According to data provider Opta, he has been directly involved in more goals in the Champions League than any other player since the start of the 2021-22 season (31 in total; 16 goals and 15 assists).
This is Vinicius Junior, an all-around improved player who could also become the striker Ancelotti wanted last summer.
“I’m happy to have scored two goals,” he said on the touchline after the game, where he was named player of the match. “Now it’s time for a magical evening at home.”
This all sums up the good things about Ancelotti, his staff and Vinicius Junior – having an idea to fill a void and developing it well enough for a left-winger to become a Champions League semi-finalist in the game Best player in the final away game.
“Now he has learned how to move well without the ball, to move in behind the opponent,” Ancelotti said. “Then he becomes very cold in front of the goal.”
(Top photo: Daniel Kopacz/Getty Images)
