Vinicius Junior celebrates Tuesday’s 2-2 Champions League game against Liverpool at Anfield AFP7 via Europa Press (AFP7 via Europa Press)
In Vinicius’ last European game before the start of his explosion – in the semi-final second leg against Chelsea in spring 2021 – the Brazilian continued to thrive in his natural position: on the right and as a winger. That’s how it looked for the left-hander in the eyes of Zinedine Zidane on the big nights of the Champions League, well below an already depressed Eden Hazard, who occupied the left wing of attack by status at Stamford Bridge that day. That day, Vini’s first pass went to Courtois and he barely lasted an hour on the field while the Belgian, despite his apparent insignificance in the team’s game, was overwhelmed until the 89th minute. At that time, there were only three months (until the summer) before Vini’s career took an unforeseen turn after the French coach suggested she be sold, this outlet reported.
On Monday, in training ahead of Liverpool’s clash, Hazard greeted old acquaintances from his time in England who were strolling around Anfield. “He’s a great guy, nice, he’s not like Bale,” they defended the collapsed Belgium star, unparalleled since January 3 against Cacereño and absent from the league since September.
In those times when the Sorpass had not yet occurred, Vinicius was already warning that, for want of more tact, the best of his catalog was perseverance. “I’m a player who comes in with personality, I fail and next time I’ll go. The defender thinks I don’t go, but I always go. It’s the best thing I do,” he warned after a game with Atalanta earlier in the same 2021 to declare himself to the world when no one suspected what was to come.
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He never stopped going forward and on this course he never stopped multiplying his records, especially in the Champions League. While last season he had a shot on goal every 149 minutes in Europe in his new edition, this time he reduced the ratio to 33:4 times more. As a result, with the Anfield double he already has six goals in the Champions League (one every 88 minutes), compared to four last year (one every 300 minutes); although as author, yes, of the goal of triumph in the final in Paris.
In his prehistory, in those times when Hazard was listed ahead of him and only scored four goals in three runs, he managed to total up to seven games without shooting between the three sticks. Even last season, when his growth was already a matter of study, he collected four games without directly threatening the goalkeeper.
While his everyday life in Spain is often overtaken by the noise surrounding his relationship with rivals and racial slurs from the stands (LaLiga filed two more complaints this Wednesday, one in Mallorca and one in Pamplona, and they’ve already had eight), he found his garden in Europe. “He is the decisive player in world football. There is no other with its continuity,” Ancelotti stressed on Tuesday. His double made him the second youngest (22 years and 224 days) in Madrid history, after Raúl González (22 years and 163 days), to score in three consecutive Champions League games.
From tutor to soloist
It is a Vinicius who is already flying free without the help of a previously weak Benzema, who has been heavily burdened by physical problems. For the first time in 17 games, the Frenchman finished the group stage without a goal, scoring his first two goals, fourth and fifth (this time by the Brazilian) at Anfield. After 20 minutes with water in the neck, the rescue did not come – as was almost always the case with the miraculous comebacks of the past season – via the French route, but by the winger, who found the saving slot just as well with such a powerful shot Shot that was out of his catalog a year and a half ago.
Then, just as he was beginning to show his head in the face of general disbelief, Benzema publicly offered his help after a long initial period of estrangement and misunderstandings on the pitch. “I believe in him, he’s tops,” he assured before everyone’s insistence on finding out how they started getting along. At that time, the Brazilian had to play the French goal. Now Vinicius is waiting to see when and how the nine will really return, as the first soloist of a Madrid that hangs on him almost every day, as became clear again on Tuesday under red fire.
Two of his goals against Liverpool with Zidane in spring 2021 didn’t help him escape the manager’s lack of confidence. Nor was it easy at the time to imagine what happened next. Two years later, his double at Anfield was another nail in his new management.
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