Vinicius assumes star stripes even in the absence of Benzema

The best signing of Real Madrid so far this season is Vinicius. It took three shooting seasons and also the arrival of Carlo Ancelotti to the white bench, but now, beyond the specific appearances that he had been starring in, the Brazilian has already emerged as one of the indisputable references of the Chamartín team.

The unquestionable condition that the carioca now enjoys had to be won with the arrival of the Italian coach. Hazard and Bale threw gallons and were Benzema’s guards in the first two games of the course, but Vinicius did not throw in the towel and coming off the bench he scored a goal against Alavés in Mendizorroza and two more against Levante in the Ciutat de València to rescue a point. That’s where Ancelotti came into play, because while Zidane put in and took out the former Flamengo in his line-ups, his substitute in charge has not shaken his pulse.

Vinicius has started all twelve of Madrid’s games since then and that feeling of full confidence has possibly been the key to his ultimate explosion. «Put it on, give him the confidence he deserves because he is playing very well and scoring goals. I’m not a magician, fortunately, I try to give the maximum confidence to all the players, “explained Ancelotti at the conclusion of the match in Elche, resolved with a double by the Brazilian, regarding his role in the player’s transformation.

Seven goals in the League, when in his three previous courses in white he had never exceeded three, two more in the Champions League, in addition to three assists in the domestic championship and another two in the maximum continental competition. An impeccable service record when barely a third of the course has been contested, which already places him in the star category, at the height of the great attackers of the old continent. Benzema, who since the departure of Cristiano Ronaldo had pulled the car practically alone in what refers to the Real Madrid team, now has not only a partner, but also a substitute for guarantees when he is not there.

The records of the footballer who until not long ago was even the object of jokes for his difficulties in defining and who now leaves every now and then a master class of the art of the auction is surpassed by few players in the major European leagues, even less who are not ‘nines ‘cigars, as is your case. Nine goals that Mohamed Salah barely improves, with fifteen goals between the Premier and the Champions League, beyond gunners like Lewandowski (17), Benzema himself (11) or Haaland (10). Behind are for the moment the desired Mbappé, at the moment with five goals in Ligue 1 and one in the Champions League, and the long-awaited Cristiano Ronaldo, with four goals in the Premier and three more in the Champions League since his return to Manchester United .

And it is that the exhibition in that first leg of the quarterfinal of the Champions League against Klopp’s Liverpool, with a double that helped put the tie for Madrid on track, already hinted at many things. The continuity was lacking to calibrate the real possibility that one day Vinicius would wear the star stripes. Big words. Now, after two months of competition and as a fixture of Ancelotti’s starting eleven, the once-discussed one begins to convince locals and strangers. Almost everyone except Tite, the Brazilian coach. At least for now.