MADRID :A frustrated Vinicius Jr stormed straight to the changing rooms after being substituted during Real Madrid’s heated Clasico with Barcelona, making his displeasure known to manager Xabi Alonso.
Vinicius was taken off in the 71st minute and replaced by fellow Brazilian Rodrygo during their 2-1 win over their bitter rivals, with Vinicius playing a key part in the winning goal and running Barcelona’s right back Jules Kounde ragged.
With Madrid reversing a four-game losing streak against Barca, the win looked set to be an important milestone in new manager Alonso’s efforts to stamp his authority. However, Vinicius’s angry reaction at being taken off showed the challenge he faces in managing the egos within his team.
Vinicius has had a testy relationship with Alonso since he took over as manager in May. Alonso has substituted him in most games this season even though he appears to have solved how to bring the best out of his two star players – Vinicius and Kylian Mbappe – who struggled to click last season.
In an eventful match with plenty of needle, Vinicius was fired up, snapping into tackles and encouraging the crowd to make more noise. He toyed with Kounde almost every time he had the ball and looked like Madrid’s most probable source for a goal.
His looping cross in the 42nd minute was headed back across goal by Eder Militao and nodded on by Dean Huijsen for Jude Bellingham to prod home. Minutes later he thought he had created a third goal after teasing Frenkie De Jong by the corner flag to engineer a chance that eventually fell to Mbappe, who was offside.
But even after storming off the pitch his part in a testy match was not over. He reemerged just before the final whistle after Pedri was sent off and a fight broke out between the teams. He had to be shepherded away from the scene as he argued with Barca’s players.
