Vinicius Junior showed flashes of brilliance in Real Madrid’s Champions League win over Chelsea.
Viniciur Junior has been accused by fans of ‘disrespecting’ Wesley Fofana during Real Madrid’s win over Chelsea. The Brazilian was in fine form as Los Blancos racked up a two-goal advantage ahead of next week’s Champions League quarter-final second leg at Stamford Bridge.
Vinicius played a key role in both Real Madrid goals at the Bernebau. Karim Benzema tapped in his rebound to open the scoring, before the Brazilian played the pass that invited Marco Asensio to find the bottom corner.
The 22-year-old is a force to be reckoned with on the European stage, with 20 direct goal involvements in his last 20 Champions League appearances. And when he wasn’t scoring or creating against the Blues, he gave Fofana a torrid time on the left flank, which didn’t go unnoticed by onlookers.
“What Vinicius has been doing to Fofana in this game is too disrespectful,” wrote @dunmadesammy on Twitter. “Yes he’s dribbling Reece James too but with Fofana, you can just see the disrespect.”
Vinicius Junior gave Wesley Fofana a tough time on Wednesday night (Image: GETTY)
Reaction to Fofana’s battle with Vinicius followed a similar theme, while Reece James was also singled out as @Paul__Dawkins wrote: “Vinicius is having his way with Reece James and Fofana tonight. This is bullying.” Meanwhile, @Bankole_Duyi added: “Both Reece James and Fofana have been run ragged by Vinicius in this game.”
Fofana picked up a yellow card within the first five minutes for a late challenge on the Brazilian, which only served to make his task more difficult. It remains to be seen whether Chelsea interim boss Frank Lampard opts to field the same defenders in the return leg, when the Blues will seek to claw back a two-goal deficit in pursuit of the semi-finals.
Ben Chilwell will not be involved after picking up a straight-red card in Madrid for hauling down Rodrygo and denying a goalscoring opportunity. Lampard’s 10-man side may therefore be thankful that the deficit is not even wider.
The former Everton manager has suffered two defeats from two games since being appointed to replace Graham Potter until the end of the season. Despite the fact Chelsea have now drawn blank in each of their last four matches, Lampard believes that Wednesday’s encounter did yield positives.
Frank Lampard face Carlo Ancelotti, his former manager at Chelsea, on Wednesday (Image: Getty)
“I don’t think they carved us open when we had 10 men and that’s due to our spirit,” he told BT Sport. “We had our chances at that point in the game. There are some good things but the result is a reality. I said to the players anything can happen at Stamford Bridge.
“They’re a very good team but we have to believe. There’s a lack of belief at the moment. The players have got to understand how good they are and what they can do. There was some good in there, with the spirit, but the result is a fact so next week is going to be a big fight.”
