We already told you in AS that on August 7 there was an incident in the Etihad that greatly cooled the relationship between Zidane and Vinicius. Upon learning that he was not going to be part of the starting lineup in the decisive second leg with Manchester City, the boy had a reaction of rage and instead of warming up with his teammates before the match he stayed in the locker room looking at his mobile. At his side was Marcelo, also a substitute that night. Zidane, who did not see them warm up, went to the locker room and found them there. He didn't say anything, but it made him very bad. Vini, who at 20 years of age is a boy with a very well furnished head, assumed in his family environment the mistake he had made and after the holidays he asked Zidane in Valdebebas to speak with him. The coach listened to him attentively. Vinicius apologized and told him that his reaction had not been professional and that it would not happen again. The Frenchman liked his personality to address him personally and to take his guilt. Since then everything started to go better between the two. Zizou stayed after training for 15 or 20 more minutes with the Brazilian to improve his definition, the only subject that Vini was missing to be the crack who is beginning to show that he is.
But in winter he had a slowdown in his progression. The Borussia-Madrid Champions League incident, when the cameras caught Benzema talking to Mendy around mockingly about Vini, undermined the boy's morale. He spent several weeks with low self-esteem and fear of making mistakes on the pitch. For a moment he was no longer him. He lost the joy in his game, he developed in the field without taking risks and barely faced in one on one. He chose not to make mistakes and played only to assure, without spark or daring. But that's not Vinicius. After the Huesca-Real Madrid match, Zidane spoke to Vini again and asked him to recover his magic and risk football, that it was again that of his first year with Solari who fell in love with the Bernabéu and the one that in some phases has appeared with Zidane. That he dared to shoot at goal, that he did not avoid dribbling in the race. Vini, who played like this at Flamengo, gladly understood the message. Zizou added that he increase his commitment in defensive work and he did. He prepared himself physically better than ever and soon the results were seen. Starter in 9 of the last 12 games of Madrid. Now yes. Goals and assists are beginning to fall out of his pockets. Vinicius becomes Vinicius again. Good for Madrid. And for Zidane.