Four league games without a goal
Real Madrid came through at Elche on Tuesday night, winning 3-2. Vinicius Junior had little to do with it. The Brazilian spurned chance after chance before being hooked with 20 minutes left. He is now four La Liga matches without a goal.
Carlos Espi was the saviour again. Signed from Levante for €25M this summer to general surprise, the 21-year-old striker has already scored twice in stoppage time since the start of the season. Two goals, two rescues. The Spanish press gave him the front pages on Wednesday morning, and used the chance to settle scores with the No 7.
The numbers are doing the rounds all over Madrid. One goal in 598 minutes. Three assists to soften the blow. In the same spell, Kylian Mbappe scored his seventh goal in six league outings. AS sums up the unease in one line: Vinicius is “the key man shaking before the Metropolitano”.
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Mourinho points the finger without naming names
Jose Mourinho had already set the tone the day before the trip. “Providing assists is important, working for the team is very important, the daily work is very important and he does it very well… But there is another Vinicius,” the Portuguese coach said.
After the final whistle, he did not name anybody. But his verdict was aimed squarely at the Merengue attack. “These are the kind of matches where we have chances to kill it off, but we don’t. When you don’t do that, a simple situation turns into a loss of control.” Real let Elche, who are 19th in La Liga, claw their way back twice.
The Metropolitano is next
The derby comes next weekend. Real Madrid head to Atletico Madrid needing to keep pace with Barca at the top of the table. The Madrid press is openly questioning the output of the Brazilian winger, who has 13 goals in 54 caps for Brazil.
Vinicius took to social media overnight. “The goals will come back, I can’t miss that many chances…” See you Saturday.
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