Vinícius Jr: from “don’t play with him” to scoring the Champions League title goal

“Benzema has to score 50 or 30 goals, and Vinícius also has to score more.” It was June 3, 2021, eight months after that controversial video in which the Frenchman was caught asking his teammate Mendy not to “play” with the Brazilian at halftime of a Champions League match, and Carlo Ancelotti took advantage of his first press conference on his return to Real Madrid to assign responsibility for the merengue goal to both of them. Today, his decision took shape in the final against Liverpool: Vinícius Jr’s title goal, in a competition that ends with Karim as the top scorer with 15 goals.

That tense moment, normal in elite football, which starred in the ‘9’ has been forgotten, as well as those gray days for the most winning club in the Champions League. That 2020-21 season they were eliminated by Chelsea in the semi-finals. Everything has been left behind. Today, the European and the Brazilian understand each other perfectly and celebrate a new Champions League for their colours.

“There are no words to describe how he plays,” Vinícius Jr. said of Benzema after the game against City in the semi-finals, still amazed by the Panenka-style penalty goal he scored. The astonishment is shared in the world of football. The Frenchman once said: “I play for people who like and know a lot about football”. Perhaps an answer to his detractors, but rather a confession of what he is: a total football player, capable of scoring the ball in a Champions League semifinal, with the marked down and the wound still open from having converted a week ago the only player in Madrid history to miss two penalties in the same game.

Benzema, Vinicius’s teacher

He was a member of the BBC (the trident with Bale and Cristiano Ronaldo), but never had the leading role. He had no problem putting his quality at the service of ‘CR7’ to win four Champions Leagues. But today, Benzema is no longer a secondary actor. He is the scorer of the season (44 goals in 45 games) and Champions (15) of a Madrid that raises the fourteenth ‘Orejona’. And the master of a Vinícius who stood out this season: 21 goals in all competitions, far from the 6 of last season.

“I have not taught him to play football. What I have done is change his ideas. Before, he had the idea of ​​overflowing and then ‘we’ll see’. He now stands out knowing if he is going to score, cross or go inside. (…) It is the same as last season. The only difference is that he now makes the good decisions. He reflects. That’s what I’ve taught him”, declared the ‘9 ′ to“ L’Equipe ”a few weeks ago about his role as teacher of his partner.

If this Madrid, which walks between defensive errors and thinking about a future with Mbappé, still dreams of the Champions League, it is thanks to the scoring duo formed by Benzema and Vinícius. According to the Spanish statistician “Míster Chip”, between the two they scored 16 goals and gave 6 assists. That is to say, they participated in 22 of the 26 goals of the merengue team.