Vinicius Junior showed no remorse in his brilliant showing against Inter on Tuesday night.
Real Madrid were victorious in their first Champions League game, after a hugely entertaining 2-1 win over the Italian champions. In that game, fans saw a version of Vinicius Junior they thought would never return, and despite not scoring a single goal for Real Madrid, he had genuine shouts to be the best outfield player on the pitch for Los Blancos.
Obviously, the best overall player would likely be Thibaut Courtois for his majestic performance between the sticks, but as far as outfield players go, there weren’t that many who performed better defensively than the Brazilian winger.
He did not score a goal or create one for his teammates, but he did everything else splendidly well, to the point where fans probably started thinking of him as the Vinicius Junior of old.
The Brazilian still lacked in creating chances and did not do well enough to help Real Madrid’s attack on every occasion he possibly could, but it was the defensive side of things that genuinely impressed every single person watching the game.
Vinicius Junior had nine recoveries against Inter on Tuesday night, which is the highest number for any Real Madrid attacker in the last 18 years. For a player who was called lazy off the ball by so many fans and pundits, that sure would shut them up.
There was some truth to it, as well. In the last couple of years, Vinicius Junior has not shown the defensive relentlessness that he used to all the way back in his first few years in the limelight. In the 2021-22 and 2022-23 seasons, Vinicius Junior used to win the ball back by working hard on the defensive end, before unleashing three or four dribbles without breaking a sweat on the other end of the pitch.
Real Madrid fans have not seen that often since then, and it was brilliant to see this side of the Brazilian. The performance went on to show that he does not have to have the goals and assists to be an important Real Madrid player. Although that will be preferred, he can also work hard and make his name on the defensive end of the pitch, especially if things are not looking good for him going forward.
Against Inter, Vinicius Junior had a couple of decent moves in attack, but he still lacked that bite that we’re used to seeing from him at times. However, he made up for it and then some on the defensive end of the pitch.
This is likely not going to be sustained by the player, but fans would hope this is the beginning of the new normal for Vinicius Junior. The fans would hope for him to have much better performances in attack, but also pray that this defensive effort was not just a one-off, regardless of how he does with the ball.
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