Against Manchester City, the Brazilian showed what he’s capable of again.
Manchester City began the first leg of the quarter-final against Real Madrid trying to immediately gain territorial control and often arriving close to the opponent’s area. Following a corner, the ball remains in the flag area. Bernardo Silva tries to challenge 3 Madrileños on the backline, but the ball is uprooted by one of them, namely Alaba, and ends up on the feet of Vinicius Jr.
The Brazilian gives it to Kroos nearby, and begins his run on the track on the left flank. The teammates circulate the ball nearby with close, first-time and fluid exchanges. Kroos, Alaba and Benzema triangulate splendidly and the Frenchman, with his heel, precisely cues Vinicius’ run on the sideline. At this point Vini’s engine starts to spin faster: he leaves Kevin De Bruyne in place and triggers the first transition of the match. You make 50 meters of ball and chain to the limits of physical omnipotence, before being held up by Walker. At that point he raises his head and looks for the horizontal step for Benzema that he had followed in the center.
Control of the Ballon d’Or, however, is imprecise, preventing the creation of a chance. The combination of speed and vision showcased by Vinicius is therefore not rewarded. But not even three minutes have passed since the kick-off when Vinicius has already made it clear that he wants to take the stage again.
This first action was just a prequel to his umpteenth performance as a tightrope walker around the field. Vinicius wants to bully some evenings and his goal is the perfect image of this statement. A shot from the edge of the area where he explodes all his power after a check that is by no means trivial, sending the ball to the right. The space to find a winning trajectory, combined with the speed with which the sphere is rotating on the grass, was little. What’s more, Ruben Dias covers his mirror very well. The power with which he kicks straight into the crossroads is impressive. All without ever looking at the goal, it just makes it a question of power on which Ederson can do nothing.
The advantage against Manchester City is the Brazilian’s 23rd goal of the season, to which must be added 19 assists. Numbers, these, which well explain the level he has reached. Only Mbappe and Haaland have contributed more goals this season in Europe’s top 5 leagues. Maturation of him took time, but now Vinicius is one of the leading men of the Blancos. The thorn in the side – it must be said given the role he occupies on the pitch – for any Real opponent. In a team full of prestigious faces who have written the sporting history of the last decade, he is the man who best represents the modern side of Real; what he already looks to the future. A fast and technical player, with a strong mentality and who knows how to enter the game with arrogance, both with an impromptu play and starting with a thousand from the first minute. And this is why support is the main pivot on which Ancelotti’s team relies to get on goal.
It’s no coincidence that Real Madrid’s chances against Manchester City are all a series of fluid and clinical combinations based on technique and the high footballing IQ of their players. Triangulations from before; give and go; movements, with and without the ball, repeated maniacally with a disarming speed for the defenders. In these actions Vini is always there. With the second half just starting, Real had the most brilliant moment in this regard. After a long play the ball arrives on the left flank where Benzema, Vinicius and Camavinga patiently triangulate a couple of times. When the action seems to start to stagnate, the Brazilian begins to concentrate ball and chain and the combination with Benzema changes position. Vinicius begins to mark the path with which to arrive in the area. Once the ball got there, Carvajal took over. The full-back is the one who has to close the new triangulation, which takes place on the edge of the area and leads Benzema to a potentially dangerous but too powerful shot that ends over the crossbar.
Vini is this for Real: the man who chooses the best way to get face to face with the goalkeeper. And he doesn’t have to be the finisher or the finisher, but he is the center of this series of tight passes extended down the field. A dowry of playmaking less flashy and more minimal than those showing Modric and Kroos, but more refined and efficient than the great individual gesture. The key to attracting defenses and opening passages to the door. And with many different solutions. Tight dribbling, progression, backline controls, quick exchanges or mid-range vision. All experienced as an individual challenge with the direct opponent and a visceral chemistry with the teammates.
By now Vinicius is the man you need to pay more attention to if you want to survive Real Madrid, the tactical issue to unhinge. It’s strange to think that, despite everything, Kyle Walker, one of the few players in the world able to stem Vinicius Jr’s danger to a minimum, came out of the Bernabeu with a solid performance. Yet the feeling remains that Vinicius was impregnable. He missed the man 5 times out of 11 attempts – in a Champions League where, five times, he attempted more than 10 dribbles in a game.
The competitive vein of Vinicius, the ferocity with which he dances around the ball is not reduced only to the possession phase, but also when it comes to getting the ball back. The pressure exerted in defense by Vini has the same intensity as when he is in control of the ball. An example came in the 25th minute, when he attacked Rodri – a player who usually intimidates with his physicality – and, like a fury, forced him to make a mistake, recovering the ball on the edge of the area to then challenge Stones and start an insidious cross comfortable for Benzema. Only an artful play from Dias’ defense avoided converting into a goal.
The arrogance with which Vinicius emerges in a team full of champions is extraordinary. If players like Benzema, Modric and Kroos have not yet run out of fuel in this cycle of Real Madrid, it is thanks to the leap in level of the Brazilian offensive abroad, who is now the man who takes the greatest responsibility on the pitch in creating of occasions. Despite being only 22 years old, he has already decided a Champions League final with a goal and seems to grow year after year, decisive match after decisive match.
Vinicius is the man who takes Ancelotti’s team on his shoulders, he does it as much with brilliance and amusement as with arrogance. In the midst of the dialectic between Haaland and Mbappé, Vinicius seems to be placed in the background, despite the fact that he’s the one who has already obtained that shirt that the other two have always craved and rejoicing in. Every time he scores, he rejoices underlining his belonging: he has already fulfilled a dream. He now he is entering the iconography of Real Madrid. What more can you ask for?
2023-05-10 15:23:06
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