Brazilian Vinícius Junior closed 2025 with a bitter taste in his mouth. The whistles he heard during the game against Sevilla, the fourteenth consecutive without scoring for Real Madrid, grew the moment he was substituted. After a break to disconnect at Christmas, he reunites with the Santiago Bernabéu with the obligation to assume the leadership left by Kylian Mbappé.
«I see Vini well, happy, smiling. The break has been good for all of us to reset and return with more energy after the intense block in December,” said Xabi Alonso when asked about the Brazilian.
He left a message of support for a player he needs in a response in which he ended up encompassing the entire team and pointing to the energy that must be shown on the field to connect with the stands.
His reaction was different on December 20, when the lackluster victory against Sevilla did not hide the anger on the part of the Real Madrid fans with whom he was their great star in recent seasons. “The fans can express their opinion and it can be improved,” said Xabi after hearing his player being whistled.
Hotly, Vini changed his profile photo on social networks as soon as the match ended. From the Real Madrid shirt he switched to that of the Brazilian team and went on vacation. With more pause, he celebrated the arrival of 2026 with a conciliatory message: «May 2026 be an incredible year. Hala Madrid always! “I love you,” he wrote alongside a white image.
Vinícius extended his hand to the Real Madrid fans who, on January 4, in the first match of the year, will meet the player again in the league match against Real Betis. The Brazilian’s desire to assume responsibility in the absence of Mbappé due to injury and end a negative streak that affects the irregularity of Xabi Alonso’s Real Madrid.
He hasn’t scored since October 4, when he scored a double against Villarreal. At that point in the season he had scored five goals in ten games. Anchored in the same figure in 24 games in which he has participated (1,115 minutes), once again indisputable since the ‘fire’ of the classic when he loudly challenged the decision to replace Xabi. Eleven games since that moment, ten starts and rest in Talavera in the Copa del Rey.
The duel against Betis is the starting point of an important year for Vinícius. The obligation to win titles again with Real Madrid after a blank 2025 and the World Cup with Brazil, all with a renewal paralyzed by the distance between the player’s economic claims and the board’s proposal, which he has no intention of resuming until the course closes. The footballer who won the Ballon d’Or two years ago has to prove himself again on the field. It is not the first time that he has fought against everything to end up triumphing.
