Vinicius Jr has enjoyed a meteoric rise at Real Madrid over the last few years. Having the joined the club as a teenager, the Brazilian winger had found the early years tough in the Spanish capital. While his ability with the ball at his feet was always excellent, what he lacked was efficiency in the final third of the pitch and effectiveness on the final result of a match.
That all changed last season, as Vinicius’ game underwent a transformation under the management of Carlo Ancelotti.
Vinicius’ finishing went from wasteful to one of the most reliable in the Real Madrid team and on top of that, he became much better at setting up his teammates as well. His incredible campaign was capped off by the Champions League winner against Liverpool in the final.
As his star has rose, so has the opposition’s attention towards Vinicius though and he has recently found himself on the end of rough tackles increasingly. That has been a topic of discussion in the Spanish footballing circles in recent days, but it looks like the Brazilian has learned a few things from Neymar and Cristiano Ronaldo, and how they dealt with similar treatment from defenders.
Real Madrid superstar makes Neymar and Ronaldo claim
As reported by Reuters, Vinicius said regarding Neymar and Ronaldo:
"“When you start to become an important player, rivals come after you harder. You have to learn to deal with that.“I learned a lot from Neymar when he played for Barcelona, he suffered a lot too. Cristiano (Ronaldo), when he played for Real, suffered a lot too.“But it was Karim (Benzema) who told me to stay calm and have peace of mind because if the rivals are chasing you it is because you are relevant, because they are afraid of you.”"
As far as learning things from people goes, you cannot get much better than Neymar and Ronaldo. They are two of the best players of their generation, and when it comes to the Portuguese star, he ranks pretty high on the all-time list as well.
Let’s see if Vinicius can emulate them and go on to become a legend of the game himself. For that to happen, he will need to remain fit for years to come though.
We have seen Neymar struggle with several injuries over the years. Another similar example is that of Eden Hazard, who found himself on the end of bad tackles throughout his career, and those seem to have caught up to him finally, as he struggles to remain fit these days.