Three days after the classic and through their social networks, Vinicius publicly apologized this Wednesday for his angry reaction on the pitch of the Santiago Bernabéu when Xabi Alonso He ordered his replacement in the 72nd minute of the match against … Barcelona. A request for forgiveness, however, only half-hearted because in his statement the Brazilian addressed “all Real Madrid fans”, his “colleagues”, the “club” and the “president”, but in no paragraph did he mention or remember the coach. It was not a coincidence, but an intentional oversight, as confirmed to this newspaper by sources close to the footballer, who in this way seems to want to keep in touch with his coach, although it has not emerged if there has been any type of private meeting between the two.
The question now is whether, after this peculiar repentance, there will be sports punishment for him in the form of a substitute in Saturday’s League match against Valencia at the white stadium. Logic indicates that this will be the case because the opposite could be interpreted as a loss of authority on the part of the Tolosarra.
Real Madrid returned to training on Wednesday after two days of rest granted by Days of disconnection that Vinicius took advantage of to enjoy in Monaco in the company of his partner and to reflect on his attitude in the classic, in which the coach decided to replace him even though he was being one of the featured actors. A choice that the forward did not like at all, as he wanted to make clear with his striking gestures and exclamations in the air when he went to the bench, although he finally headed into the locker room tunnel without exchanging a single word or shaking his coach’s hand. «Always me. “I’m leaving the team… I’m leaving, I better leave,” he said on that journey to the sideline.
Luis Llopis, goalkeeper coach, managed to get the Brazilian to reconsider, turn back and end up watching the game from the bench, but the conflict was already over. «We will talk about it. There are different personalities in the squads and you have to understand them. “Now we will enjoy it and then I will talk about it with him, of course, when the time comes,” warned Xabi in the press conference after the match against Barça, trying in this way not to add more gasoline to the fire unleashed by his player on the grass of the Bernabéu and that the entire world saw through the television cameras.
In public and in private
Vinicius does not seem to want to put out that fire despite his apology statement, in which he justified his actions, forgetting to mention his coach, the recipient of his tremendous anger in the match against Barcelona. «Today I want to apologize to all the Madrid fans for my reaction to being substituted in the classic. Just as I have already done it in person during today’s training, I also want to apologize again to my teammates, club and president,” said the attacker, who is negotiating with the Madrid entity the contract renewal which has been signed until June 2027.
«Sometimes passion wins me because I always want to win and help my team. My competitive nature comes from the love I feel for this club and everything it represents. “I promise to continue fighting every second for the good of Real Madrid, as I have done since the first day,” argued the player, who before making the text public on his social networks had already gathered the squad in the locker room to give explanations and ask. sorry to your colleagues. A meeting in which Xabi Alonso nor the members of his coaching staff were present.
Real Madrid’s position after Vinicius’ extra-sports spectacle in Sunday’s classic has been from the first moment to leave the consequences of what happened in that match in the hands of Xabi Alonso. A line that, as this newspaper has confirmed, is maintained despite the statement from the Brazilian footballer, whose relationship with his coach does not seem to be optimal. Vinicius has lost with the Basque the untouchable status that he did have with Carlo Ancelotti and the numbers indicate it. In the thirteen League and Champions League games played so far by Real Madrid, the forward has been a substitute in three of them and has only completed all the minutes in three others. That of the classic was not the first outburst of the Brazilian star in these first months of competition because already in the League duel against Real Sociedad and in the Champions League in the visit to Kairat Almaty he was substituted and the decision did not go too well.
Xabi press conference
After his player’s request for forgiveness, Xabi Alonso will have the opportunity on Friday, at the press conference prior to Saturday’s League match against Valencia, to clarify whether this rudeness by Vinicius may have sporting consequences in that match and in other subsequent events, and if both have held some type of private meeting to talk about what happened in the classic, an issue that has not been publicly disclosed so far. From the club, however, yesterday they took the edge off this thorny issue. «There is a good atmosphere. “It is an internal team matter,” they assured this newspaper from Valdebebas.
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