No wonder Real Madrid fans were excited when news broke this week that Vinicius Junior had signed a new deal that would see him stay at the Bernabeu for a further five years at £8.6m a year. But will remain.
The euphoria was random – and no wonder. He may hail from the state of Rio de Janeiro on Guanabara Bay, but he’s now a Madrid boy.
At the age of 22, she has left her poor upbringing behind. He plays with a relentless joy that masks some of the racism that is directed at him in Spain. He rises above it and lights up most arenas he plays on. This is the most.
After missing a first-half setter against Celtic, Vinicius Jr later headed home Joe Hart from Federico Valverde’s cross. It was Real’s fourth, a reward for all the work he had done. Nothing went his way for much of the night, but he was a never-ending threat, a player who must be a living nightmare to defend. against.
Of course it has his company. Luka Modric was effortlessly excellent. Toni Kroos was a rock. Uruguayan Valverde, 24, further dismissed Modric’s recent claim that he is “top three in the world”.
One of the biggest surprises of this Champions League is that bookmakers have placed Real fifth in the betting to retain their title. or what This is madness.
It is true that they took their lead in the first 21 minutes with two penalties, both correct but also unfortunate. No real player has fallen short of their creativity. One was a handball from Moritz Janes, the other an elbow ball from Matt O’Reilly.
Any physical and mental work Ange Postecoglou may have done was immediately compromised, even more so when Jozep Juranovic himself disappeared from the spot when it was still 2-0.
Looking down from the gods at the Bernabeu, Thibaut Courtois suddenly looked the size of a house, a towering presence in goal. He is 6 feet 7 inches. He saw eight feet. Juranovic’s main hope was to send him the wrong way. He didn’t. Once Courtois read his intentions, Croat was in all sorts of trouble.
Add that to the pile of missed opportunities in this campaign. The final score was emphatic but, once again, Celtic contributed to the contest.
The waste didn’t get them any results – Real could and probably should have scored a few more – but it certainly added to their frustration. Jota’s brilliant late free-kick gave them a piece. The Portuguese really should have played from the start, not that it made much of a difference to the bottom line.
