Real Madrid’s Super Cup hat-trick hero Vinicius Jr ‘no saint’ but trying to improve
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Real Madrid's Vinicius Junior (left) scoring his second goal during the Spanish Super Cup final between Real Madrid and Barcelona.
PHOTO: AFP
RIYADH – Vinicius Jr admitted he was “no saint” after inspiring Real Madrid to win the Spanish Super Cup on Jan 14 with a hat-trick in a 4-1 thrashing of arch-rivals Barcelona in Saudi Arabia.
The Brazilian forward is often criticised by opponents for going down easily, confronting officials and humiliating them with dribbles.
Barcelona defender Ronald Araujo was sent off for two yellow cards, both for fouls on Vinicius.
Players and staff on Barcelona’s bench, including midfielder Sergi Roberto, appeared to remonstrate with Vinicius in the second half.
“I’m very sad because everyone wants to fight with me because they know it will come out in the media,” the 23-year-old said.
“I try to focus on the game to do the best for my teammates (but) I am not a saint, sometimes I talk too much, do dribbles I shouldn’t do, but I am here to improve. I want to improve, my teammates and the coach are showing me what I have to do.”
Real coach Carlo Ancelotti said he took Vinicius off in the final stages because he was tired.
“I took off Vinicius for all the effort he’d put in, not to avoid problems. I took him off for the last 10 minutes. Vinicius has to do his job, which is to make people excited and bring trophies to Real Madrid,” said the Italian.
Vinicius was by far the best player on the pitch in Riyadh as Real crushed their rivals to avenge the 2023 Super Cup 3-1 defeat by the Catalan side in the final.
His three strikes doubled his tally of goals against Barcelona to six in 16 appearances. He also has three assists against the Nou Camp outfit.
He celebrated his first goal in the style of Cristiano Ronaldo, the former Real striker and the club’s all-time top goalscorer, who now plays in Saudi Arabia.
“The celebration was for Cris, because he’s my idol, and now he is playing here,” said Vinicius.
“The people in Saudi have a special love for me, I am very happy for what we did today. To beat Barcelona 4-1 is very hard and today we had an almost perfect game.”
Compatriot Rodrygo scored Real’s final goal, while Robert Lewandowski netted for Barca.
Real Madrid’s Rodrygo celebrates scoring their fourth goal.
PHOTO: REUTERS
The loss will increase the pressure on Barca coach Xavi Hernandez, who has faced criticism from fans and media who are unhappy with the team’s form.
They sit fourth in the La Liga standings on 41 points, eight behind leaders Girona and seven adrift of second-place Real. Girona were held to a 0-0 draw by bottom-place Almeria on Jan 14 and are one point ahead of Real, who have a game in hand.
“We were lacking in every way and have to apologise to the fans, we did not show the level to compete in a final,” said Xavi.
“We played our worst game. We weren’t comfortable at any point. Madrid hurt us on the counter. I apologise to the fans because it was hard for us to compete and we showed our worst side.”
AFP, REUTERS
