Why Vinicius Junior was Real Madrid’s best player in El Clasico

Real Madrid knew that Saturday’s Clasico would be a must-win in the title race. They came into the match third in La Liga behind both Atletico Madrid and FC Barcelona. But they emerged from the match in a great position to take charge of the league, as they defeated La Blaugrana 2-1 to make it three straight Clasico victories under Zinedine Zidane.

Although Los Blancos made the match too close for comfort, they held on in the end. There were a number of fine performances in this Matchday 30 clash between bitter rivals, but nobody impressed more than Vinicius Junior.

First, the statistics. Vinicius was Real’s leader in dribbles completed and key passes, per WhoScored.com, with three of each. He also drew two fouls, including a yellow card on the edge of the box that led to Toni Kroos’ vital free-kick goal.

And that’s not all. Vinicius is an exciting attacking player who can create chances with his dribbling skills and penetrative runs into the box, but his work rate extends beyond offense. The 20-year-old is a willing and capable defensive player. As such, he had three tackles and an interception against Barcelona, as only defensive midfielder Casemiro, who is regularly among the league leaders in this statistic, had more tackles on Real Madrid than Vini.

Vinicius Junior is at his best for Real Madrid in the biggest matches

So Vini was among Real’s leaders in four offensive statistics and created a goal. The stats back up the notion that Vini was a top performer for Los Blancos.

The film? It speaks just as glowingly of Vini. Although he did not score as he did in last year’s second Clasico or as he did (twice) vs. Liverpool on Tuesday, he had a performance akin to his second Champions League night vs. Atalanta. That is to say, the opposition could not touch Vini and were often desperate to get him on the ground.

Vinicius ran off the shoulder of Barcelona’s defense and bamboozled the opposition with his fleet feet on the ball. He is a genius when gliding past defenders, knowing exactly how to use a defender’s own bodyweight and momentum against them.

One day, Vini will be the total package. For now, he is a dynamic difference-maker for Real Madrid. Vinicius plays his best in the biggest games, such as El Clasico. After a rare off night against Barcelona earlier this season, the in-form Vini is now riding high on back-to-back Man of the Match-caliber displays against two of Europe’s storied clubs in Liverpool and Barça.

No single player was harder to stop or more involved than Vinicius this past Saturday. He is one of the key reasons why Real Madrid won and are now in control of their own destiny in La Liga.