At the end of Tuesday night’s dizzying 2-2 draw against Bayern Munich, Real Madrid’s press officer moved quickly to find Vinicius Junior on the pitch and give him a training shirt.
With the Brazilian half-naked after exchanging shirts with Bayern substitute Bryan Zaragoza, it was as if the visitors didn’t want him to catch a cold. And Madrid cannot afford anything resembling a scare with its star player, who had just pulled his team out of the fire with his two goals in the first leg of this Champions League semi-final.
He did so playing as number 9 and on a night in which the 14-time European Cup and Champions League winners faced Harry Kane, the striker their coach Carlo Ancelotti had asked for in vain last summer.
Madrid’s interest did not go beyond testing the waters for Kane and the English captain ended up signing for Bayern from Tottenham Hotspur. Instead, Ancelotti’s team received Joselu on loan, who was then 33 years old and had just been relegated with Espanyol. In a season marked by injuries that has also left him without centre-backs or forwards, the Italian coach has become an expert in survival.
In the first half he invented a new position for Jude Bellingham, another summer arrival, who scored 17 goals in 21 appearances before the Christmas break. In the second half he helped Vinicius Jr reach new heights and little by little he focused his position, even turning him into a leader of the Madrid forward line.
GO TO THE BOTTOM
Vinicius Jr’s new role at Real Madrid: closer to the goal and more forward-thinking
Vinicius Jr’s first goal last night was the work of a pure striker, a smart run to make space behind, a cool clinical finish beyond Manuel Neuer’s approach. The Brazilian ran to the corner flag to celebrate, kissed the Madrid crest on his shirt, danced and opened his arms like Bellingham does after scoring, before returning to the field.
Vinicius Jr greets Kroos after the first goal (Kirill Kudryavtsev/AFP via Getty Images)
There he bowed to Toni Kroos, around whom more than half of his teammates had already gathered. Playing at his old home, Kroos’ direct pass towards goal was a thing of beauty. Although he later downplayed it.
“A lot of credit to Vini, he offered me the pass with his movement. As I know it, she always goes to space. The pass wasn’t that special,” Kroos said.
“We train a lot together and we know each other very well,” said Vinicius Jr, who became the fourth man in Champions League history to score in three consecutive semi-final matches.
But Madrid had started the game badly, very badly. And Ancelotti had been very, very angry.
In the 10th minute, he turned and showed four fingers at his son and assistant coach Davide, complaining about the number of times his players had already lost possession. Substitutes Eder Militao and Dani Ceballos rose from the bench to add direction and shouts of encouragement towards the field of play.
That mood suddenly changed when, about 15 minutes later, Kroos and Vinicius Jr combined with their devastatingly simple play to score the first goal. Kroos received the ball in the center of the field and immediately saw what should happen next, pointing the way to his teammate. Vinicius Jr saw what he wanted to say and executed. It was out of nowhere. Bayern were surprised, although their coach Thomas Tuchel had almost predicted it.
GO TO THE BOTTOM
The Briefing: Bayern 2 Real Madrid 2 – Ancelotti and Kroos advantage for the Ballon d’Or?
“If you look at their goals or their chances and go back 10 seconds, you don’t see them coming,” Tuchel said before the match.
In the second half, Bayern reacted strongly. Leroy Sané’s powerful blow caused havoc. On the sidelines, Ancelotti scolded Vinicius Jr and Aurelien Tchouameni. Four minutes later, as Kane prepared to take the penalty that made it 2-1 to the hosts and his international teammate Bellingham tried to dissuade him, Vinicius Jr had another quick encounter with the Ancelottis.
And, as he has done so many times before, the Brazilian led the rebellion on the big stage.
Madrid did not give up, it never did. His fans, who approached the match as if it were a final, with 4,000 spectators in the visiting stands of the Allianz Arena, chanted “Until the final, let’s go Real!” (“To the end, let’s go Real!”).
In the 83rd minute, when Vinicius Jr’s clever feet found Rodrygo in the box, there was no doubt who would take the penalty after the latter was fouled. Vinicius Jr had scored a penalty against Barcelona in El Clásico nine days earlier and would assume the responsibility again. Lucas Vázquez recovered the ball and pushed a couple of Bayern players who were trying to bother his teammate.
Vinicius Jr left him carefully and wiped the sweat from his face with his shirt. The noise was almost deafening.
But Madrid’s Brazilian talisman smoothly escaped the pressure. He scored once again and once again went to the corner to celebrate. Objects thrown from the stands fell around him as he crowned the moment by pointing to the number 7 on his back, the same one his idol Cristiano Ronaldo wore for so long in Madrid.
By sending that penalty to Neuer, he reached 32 goal contributions (21 goals and 11 assists) for Madrid this season, leading Bellingham by one.
🤳 @ViniJr 🤳#UCL pic.twitter.com/RIBxnYbZWg
— Real Madrid CF (@realmadrid) April 30, 2024
According to data provider Opta, since the start of the 2021-22 season he has been directly involved in more goals in the Champions League than any other player (31 in total; 16 goals and 15 assists).
This is Vinicius Jr, a total player who has evolved so much that he could also be the forward that Ancelotti longed for last summer.
“I’m very happy to be able to score two goals,” he said from the sidelines after the game, after being named player of the match. “Now is the time to spend a magical night at home.”
It all summed up the merit of Ancelotti, his team and Vinicius Jr: having an idea to fill a void and developing it well to the point where a left winger can be the best player in a Champions League semi-final first leg while playing . in the front.
“Now he has learned to move well without the ball, moving behind the opposition,” Ancelotti said. “And then he is very cold in front of the goal.”
(Top photo: Daniel Kopatsch/Getty Images)
