Vinicius Junior has been on a stunning run of form this season. The Brazilian winger only seems to be getting better and might very well be Real Madrid’s most important player at this point of time. It is not just that he is putting up the big numbers but he is doing so against the biggest of opponents in pressure situations.
One of those performances was against Barcelona away at Camp Nou in the second leg of the Copa del Rey semi-finals. Vinicius was superb on that night and while Karim Benzema might have scored a hattrick, the Brazilian was most probably the best player on the pitch.
Even more impressive was the fact that he produced that performance when up against Ronald Araujo. He is a player that Vinicius has struggled to get the better of in the past. He quite certainly did on that night though.
Things even got a bit feisty between the two. But it is clear that Vinicius has a lot of respect for Araujo as a player. He showered praise on the Uruguayan recently, despite of their contests on the pitch.
Real Madrid superstar makes unexpected claim about Barcelona player
As reported by SPORT, Vinicius spoke yesterday in the mixed zone after the win over Chelsea and said about Araujo:
"“He is the player who has defended me best. He’s very good and very strong, that’s why he plays for Barça.”"
It is true that Araujo has been one of Vinicius’ most difficult opponents. And in the past, he has gotten the better of the Brazilian on more than one occasion.
This is a contest that we could be set to play out for years to come though. Vinicius is still just 22 years of age, while Araujo is 24.
There is no doubt that Araujo is a very good player. And it is possible that the Uruguayan could be a centre-piece of Barcelona’s defence for the next decade.