Vinicius takes out his rifle

“Vinicius is a player who has an impressive quality. In this part of the season he is doing very well. It has to go on and nothing more. Right now you are confident. He is very calm and cold in front of the goal ”. This is how Carlo Ancelotti explained the moment the young Real Madrid attacker is going through: an exceptional moment, similar to the one he showed on his arrival in the Real Madrid first team in the autumn of 2018, and who began to show all his talent during the months of January and February 2019, just before being seriously injured in the second leg against Ajax, which ended the carioca off the pitch for several months.

If then it was one of the great assets to hold on after Cristiano's departure in July 2018, the Vinicius of 2021 is one of the great weapons that Ancelotti and his teammates can hold onto. The Brazilian has started in a notorious way: has four goals in four games (an average goal per game), has forced a penalty (with which Benzema certified Celta's hand) and participated in the elaboration of Carvajal's goal against Betis a couple of weeks ago (he rescued the ball before it left the field of play and gave it to Benzema, who crossed to the side to shoot the green-and-white goal). Precisely, with the goal he scored against the Olívico team, he has beaten his record for league goals in one season: scored one goal in the 2018-19 campaign (in 878 minutes), three in 2019-20 (in 1,370 minutes), another three in 2020-21 (in 1,962 minutes). The striking thing is that the four goals he has scored in his league start of the 2021-22 campaign is that he has achieved them in just 186 minutes, practically two games with his additions …

More striking is that his four goals have been in just seven shots between the three suits (an effectiveness of 57.14%). So far he has 10 shots (three have gone out) in his four appearances in this league: against Alavés and Levante he shot twice on goal. Before the babazorro team, a header from him found the bottom of the nets (an effectiveness of 50%). Against Levante he raised that percentage: he achieved 100% effectiveness. His two shots ended up inside (one of them with a formidable career; another with a precise and precious effect), and against Celta, his third attempt meant the third goal for the whites and for the first time to overtake those of Ancelotti against the Vigo team on the scoreboard. He has only been left without his shots finding the rival goal against Betis: his two shots went away from the Betis goal.

And it is that Vinicius is being faithful to his ideology. The Brazilian explained in his day what his style of play was: “Face my peers and be effective and direct, always looking for the goal.” However, it has been difficult for him to return to being the pre-injury Vinicius of 2019. Since he returned he was eager to like and please Zidane: against Atalanta at Di Stéfano he scored a play maradoniana before failing inexplicably before the Bergamo goal. In the next European match at the Valdebebas stadium, Vinicius took pressure off by scoring two defining goals against Liverpool: one, after controlling a pass from Kroos and beating his compatriot Alisson. The second was to take advantage of a pass from Modric.

However, Hazard's return ostracized him. But he did not give up: has continued working, first with Solari, then with Zidane, his definition facing the rival goal. After training he stayed in Valdebebas to improve his aim. During the pandemic and lockdown, he was working to gain muscle weight, but not affect his speed tip. The results are coming. He is the second top scorer of the championship, equaled with the realist Oyarzabal, with four goals. Ahead is Benzema who, with five, is the current top scorer in the competition. Now Vinicius believes it. Ancelotti already warned him during this preseason. He knows that he is one of Madrid's offensive assets. And he has drawn his rifle …