Vinicius is not resigned to having a secondary role in Zidane's Madrid. And that his relationship with the French suffered a strong deterioration after the Champions League round of 16 match against Guardiola's City, played at the Etihad on August 7.
The whites had suffered a defeat at the Bernabéu that had them on the ropes (1-2). As Hazard was in poor shape and had come out of various injuries, The young Brazilian player (20 years old) was confident of starting the most important game of the year. But at the Manchester hotel Zidane struck eleven and stayed out of it. Vini took the news badly. Upon arriving at the Etihad, the starters came out to warm up and the substitutes settled into the stands. But first they did some warm-up exercises while checking the condition of the grass. And two players were missing. Zidane, scaled, went to the locker room. Vinicius and Marcelo were there, both looking at their phones.
Zizou didn't say anything, but it made him feel bad. In fact, Vini didn't even warm up in the second half when elimination loomed over the team (neither did Marcelo). It was a hidden punishment in everyone's eyes. Days passed and Vinicius, frustrated by what happened, took a step forward that has strengthened his role within the team. Although they were each already on vacation, Vini phoned Zizou and asked if his substitution had been a punishment for the 'incident' with the mobile.
Mea culpa
He assumed his guilt if that was the case and promised the Frenchman maximum involvement for this season and that He would never behave like this again in the face of a possible substitution. Zidane thanked the player for the courage to call him personally and for him to sing the mea culpa with humiliation. He assured him that he would have opportunities like the others and that if he continued working well in training he would receive his award on the field. In fact, so far this season accumulates seven starts in League and Champions matches, all settled with victories (his balance in 2020-21 is 3 goals and 3 assists). His only mole was the bad afternoon he had in Alcoy in the Cup elimination against Alcoyano.
It is true that on occasions he has returned to the bench this season, but Zizou is beginning to give him prominence in weight games, as was seen last Sunday, where everyone was waiting for his replacement due to the return of Carvajal and Lucas Vázquez. The Galician stayed on the bench against Valencia and Vini was the starter, although then Carvajal's injury forced Lucas to jump onto the field before half an hour of play. Vinicius finished the full game against Valencia and assisted Mendy in the goal that was later annulled for a very fair offside. Before Atalanta, everything points to Vinicius starting, something that did not happen two years ago (he was injured in the second leg against Ajax) or last year due to the aforementioned incident against City.
This time it could be their revenge in a great Champions League match. The good thing is that Vinicius's sporting life changed for the better thanks to that phone call. Zidane takes the registration from players who do not follow his work dynamics, but he also knows how to forgive. Zizou was also 20 years old. Now they have another tune. In Bergamo we will be able to see it next week …