Real Madrid could drop superstar vs Shakhtar Donetsk

Real Madrid will go into the game against Shakhtar Donetsk knowing that a win will seal their place in the knockout phase of the competition. And as a result, it is safe to say that Los Blancos will be keen to do that, in order to tick that box for the season as soon as possible and leave nothing to chance.

The task at hand vs Shakhtar Donetsk has been complicated though by the looming shadow of the El Clasico set to be played at the weekend.

It has become pretty clear that this La Liga title race is going to be a tug of war between Real Madrid and Barcelona. Both sides are perfectly matched and unless something unexpected happens, it could very well go down to the wire between world football’s two most famous clubs.

That has made the upcoming El Clasico at Santiago Bernabeu even more important though and could lead to a number of Real Madrid players being rested against Shakhtar Donetsk, so that they are fresh at the weekend. Vinicius Jr could potentially be one such player.

Real Madrid superstar could be dropped vs Shakhtar Donetsk with Barcelona game coming up

As reported by Marca, Carlo Ancelotti said ahead of the game vs Shakhtar Donetsk:

"“Vini is one of the players that I have to evaluate because he has played everything, today’s trip… We have to evaluate him.”"

Vinicius is arguably the most important player in the current Real Madrid side, even ahead of Karim Benzema, who has had his struggles with form and fitness this season.

That has led to Vinicius playing a lot of football in this campaign though and he has definitely earned a bit of rest.

Keeping the Brazilian fresh would serve Real Madrid well in the upcoming game against Barcelona, especially with a number of the opposition’s defenders looking set to miss the game. That could open up the chance for Vinicius to take advantage of the situation.