Vinicius Júnior (23 years old) was one of the heroes of the Wembley final, which allowed Real Madrid to lift the 15th Champions League in a historical record that will hardly be achieved by any other club in the coming decades. The Brazilian star was decisive in the conquest of this Champions League, including that final match in London when he scored the final 2-0 against Borussia Dortmund in the 83rd minute, with a Vaseline that surpassed Kobel and certified the new success of Carlo’s team Ancelotti. But Vini’s merit is greater knowing that he did not play in the best possible conditions for a match of such magnitude. As AS learned, Vinicius had a few tenths of fever on the day of the Wembley finalwhich made him feel diminished and uncomfortable as he felt regular. But Vini made it clear to Ancelotti and the technical staff that he would not miss a match of such importance for the world. and that he was going to leave his skin as if he were 100%.
Consequently, Vini was part of the starting eleven and confirmed his enormous professionalism by playing a remarkable game. It is true that in the first half he was more reluctant, due to the high pressure that the Germans subjected him to and his health problems. But in the second half he came out like a bull and began to unbalance as usual. He starred in two scoring actions (one narrowly missed) before receiving an assist from his friend Bellingham in the 83rd minute. He controlled, went in and beat Kobel with a subtle hit. Worthy of a future Ballon d’Or.
Vini consolidates himself as Mister Champions. He has 21 goals in this competition and of them 11 have been in the knockout rounds (3 in the round of 16, 2 in the quarterfinals, 4 in the semifinals and 2 in the finals), where it is more difficult to see the door as the demand increases. The ‘7’ scored the winning goal against Klöpp’s Liverpool in Paris 2022 (it was worth the 14th) and in this 15th he scored a decisive double at the Allianz Arena in Munich against Bayern plus the aforementioned 2-0 in the Wembley final. Add another four assists in this edition of the European Cup, two of them against Guardiola’s City in the quarterfinals. Vini is the most influential player in the Champions League counting the last three editions. First in participation in goals (32), first in assists (15), first in decisive passes (69), first in successfully completed dribbles (107)… At 23 years old he is already Real Madrid’s top scorer (24 goals this season ) and along with Bellingham, he is the great favorite to win the Ballon d’Or. And on top of that, he is decisive even playing with a fever, as happened in the Wembley final. Nothing stops Vini…
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