Real Madrid: Predicting Vinicius Junior’s 2020-2021 season
Vinicius Junior can be a key player for Real Madrid next season.
Although Real Madrid could return to the pitch to finish the 2019-2020 La Liga season starting in mid-June, Madridistas already have their eyes on what should be an even better 2020-2021 campaign for this growing team.
The biggest reason for optimism regarding the 2020-2021 iteration of Real Madrid is the young talent. Even if Martin Odegaard, Achraf Hakimi, and Sergio Reguilon don’t rejoin Los Blancos next year, Real will have a number of rising stars who are already difference-makers, such as Vinicius Junior and Fede Valverde. Then there are Rodrygo Goes and Reinier Jesus, who could also be first-team players after signing in the last two transfer windows.
But if there’s one young attacking player who can be looked at as an example, then it’s Vinicius. The 19-year-old left winger will be in his third season with the club when the 2020-2021 La Liga campaign kicks off, which means he’s ripe for a breakout season.
Vinicius quite clearly keeps getting better and better. He impressed Madridistas in his first season at the club, providing quality play in the second half of a dreary 2018-2019 season before suffering an injury.
In 2019-2020, Vini was even better. He had a slow start to the season, but by the end of the year, he was a crucial player. Vinicius stepped up more than anyone else when Eden Hazard went out with an injury, immediately replacing him on the left wing. The Brazilian was unstoppable against FC Barcelona in the 2-0 Clasico win and was also a standout in February against rivals Atletico Madrid as the game-changing substitution.
He was one of the best players in La Liga at starting attacks, progressively carrying the ball into the attacking third, and taking defenders on. His confidence, intelligence, work rate, and skill on the ball made him one of Real’s most valuable players when he was on the pitch, and he could be especially dangerous off the bench as an additional spark for the attack.
Per WhoScored.com, Vinicius completed at least four dribbles in a single game on five occasions in La Liga this past season, including in each of the final two games before the campaign’s postponement against Barcelona and Real Betis. Vini even had four key passes in the final three games of the 2019-2020 season before the stoppage.
In his rookie season with Real Madrid, the former Flamengo star had two goals in La Liga and two assists in the Champions League in limited minutes. This past season, Vinicius had a combined three goals and two assists in both competitions, but he provided so much more then just goal-scoring.
Per 90 minutes, no player with at least 800 minutes played in La Liga averaged more progressive distance dribbled than Vinicius Junior. In one respect, he was the best player in the league at an important part of build-up play.
It’s hard to see how much more Vinicius will play in 2020-2021, because Eden Hazard’s health impacts Vini’s minutes. But he could explode in terms of goal contributions, seeing as how he was getting better and better at making a difference in the final third as the season wore on. Again, look no further than his performances against Atleti and Barcelona.
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A haul of five goals and five assists, even as a backup to Hazard, is a realistic floor as a third-season haul for Vini in La Liga alone. Hazard’s minutes may need to be managed due to the risks of injury, which means Vini can grab scoring opportunities, especially against confidence-boosting bottom-half sides in the league.