Very few teams have the ability to bring a player so good off the bench. And for Real Madrid, who were in the midst of a fairly woeful performance, the introduction of Vinicius Jr – handed a rare rest – was crucial. The Brazilian brought Los Blancos to life, and saw a 1-0 deficit turn to a 4-1 win, and mask yet another puzzling performance.
Los Blancos were a rather static side in the first half, relying too heavily on Kylian Mbappe and Jude Bellingham for moments of inspiration. The result was a drab affair in which a sloppy Madrid created few clear chances.
Espanyol took advantage 10 minutes into the second half. Their opener was a slapstick thing, a targeted hoof up the pitch from the goalkeeper, into the path of Jofre Carreras, who darted down the wing and saw his speculative cross trickle in via the tangled legs of Thibaut Courtois.
Los Blancos needed four minutes to respond. Vinicius was the catalyst of it all, after being introduced on the hour mark. He was crucial in the build up to the equaliser, as Dani Carvajal smashed the ball home. He was even more important in the second, his trivela pass falling perfectly to the feet of Rodrygo – who couldn’t miss for 2-1. He found the net himself for the third, darting through the middle and tucking a left-footed effort into the bottom corner. Mbappe buried a late fourth from the penalty spot.
Madrid weren’t spellbinding here. Still, Vinicius showed that adding a very good player to a football match is ultimately an effective strategy.
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