Real Madrid will welcome Barcelona to the Santiago Bernabeu to face each other in the first leg of the Copa del Rey semi-finals. To be very honest, it is a good time to face the Catalan giants. They have been in a poor run of form lately, losing two straight games and winning just one of the previous four. On the other hand, they have a number of key players injured as well.
Robert Lewandowski, Ousmane Dembele and Pedri are all set to miss the game against Real Madrid. Andreas Christensen is believed to be carrying a knock as well and might not be fit enough to start.
Thus, there might be a chance for Real Madrid to not only win this game, but to put the tie beyond Barcelona. Of course, for that to happen, Carlo Ancelotti’s side will need to be at their best and one player who could be influential in that is Vinicius Junior.
Barcelona manager, Xavi, seems to recognise that as well. As reported by Football Espana, he said about Vinicius:
"“Vinicius makes the difference. He’s an exceptional player and he scores goals. He’s a player we have to keep an eye on. He’s playing at a very high level.”"
Xavi praises one Real Madrid player in particular before El Clasico
Vinicius was not at his best at the weekend against Atletico Madrid. But the Brazilian winger was absolutely superb against Liverpool in the match before that, in the UEFA Champions League.
He scored twice and set up another, as Real Madrid walked out of Anfield with a 5-2 win, a scoreline not even their most optimistic of fans could have predicted. And Vinicius was at the centre of it all on the historic night.
Vinicius has faced some criticism at times this season. But nobody can argue with the numbers that he is putting up. According to stats from Transfermarkt, he has scored 18 goals and provided 9 assists in 36 appearances for Real Madrid across all competitions this season.