After Real Madrid's win over Sevilla on Sunday night, Jose Mourinho said that Vinicius Junior will play in the Champions League on Wednesday.
Real Madrid play Leipzig in the Champions League on Wednesday night to make it three wins out of three matches in the competition, to further strengthen their hold on the top spots of the competition.
Ever since the new manager has arrived at Real Madrid, they have not been able to get the automatic qualification that comes if you finish in the top spots. A big goal for the club would be to do that, so that they don't have to play two extra games in the Champions League.
Jose Mourinho should play the same lineup that beat Sevilla vs Leipzig
Long before the match, Mourinho already said in the conference that Vinícius Junior was going to play and start against the German outfit on Wednesday night. He said, “He will start on Wednesday. The Champions League will keep him motivated. I hope he does well. He is fresh. He has worked hard on his fitness since he didn't play today. I hope things go as they deserve and as we need them to, because Leipzig isn't the same team that lost to Bayern. It is a different team."
Firstly, it doesn't really help his case that he is starting. He's saying that he is going to start Vinícius Junior days before the actual match happens. He never does that, and it is probably not the best idea to do that either because of the scrutiny he will get for it.
It also doesn't make sense from a footballing standpoint. Although Vinícius Junior will be fresher than all of these players, it makes little sense for him to be in the lineup when the match against Leipzig is essentially a rehearsal for the game against Barcelona.
Obviously, it will be against a very different team, but Leipzig are still a better test than Sevilla. It would have made more sense to have the exact team play against Leipzig as well, so that you can see if a better team than Sevilla is able to play well against them or not.
Leipzig also press very high and are very energetic, which would have also helped Real Madrid figure out solutions if that causes this team a problem on Wednesday night.
If you start Vinícius Junior, obviously you would hope that the player is able to recover his form, but at the same time, it is also really confusing to play him at this moment. From the start, it would have been better if the player came off the bench in the second half rather than starting from the first.
That would give this entire team one full half to go for before the Barcelona test, and then Mourinho could have brought other players in.
Keep in mind, this is also going to be a difficult night for Vinícius Junior himself. He is going to play at the Bernabéu for the first time since the red card, which could also have an effect on the reception he gets from the fans.
If he plays well, Mourinho's point and intention will work out well for Vinícius Junior. If not, then he would be in an even worse situation, and it probably wouldn't do him any favours. Hopefully, the former happens, and Real Madrid are also able to analyse how the team that will start against Barcelona is able to go up against Leipzig. That is obviously a decision that will be up to Mourinho to figure out.
Add us as a preferred source on Google