Five goals, A red card, A goal of the season contender, A comeback, Ten men hanging on for dear life, A title race that refused to die.
Yesterday’s Madrid derby at the Bernabéu was the kind of football match that reminds you why you watch this sport, and at the centre of it as he so often is was Vinicius Junior.
Let me take you through it because it deserves to be told properly.
Real Madrid started the brighter side, Valverde hit the post in the opening minutes, Carvajal went close. Madrid dominated but Atletico absorbed it, stayed compact, and waited for their moment. It arrived just after the half-hour mark. Lookman, who has been one of the most underrated forwards in Europe this season picked up Giuliano Simeone’s backheeled flick and poked the ball past Lunin. 1-0 Atletico at half-time.
Seven minutes into the second half, Hancko brought down Brahim Díaz in the box and the referee pointed to the spot. Vinicius stepped up and converted. And then within minutes Atletico’s defence completely switched off, a defensive error by Gimenez found Valverde who had no right to be that far forward, and he finished coolly to make it 2-1. Madrid had turned it around in ten minutes.
And then Atletico hit back, Nahuel Molina, coming off the bench, picked the ball up 25 yards from goal and hit a swerving, rasping right-footed strike that flew into the top corner. It was genuinely outrageous. A goal of the season contender on any other day of the week.
2-2. Twenty minutes to go, The derby was alive again.
And then Vinicius decided it.
Trent Alexander-Arnold, more on him in a moment, swept a cross-field pass from deep. Vinicius took it on the edge of the box, cut inside onto his right foot, and bent a precise shot into the bottom corner past Musso. His second goal of the game, his fourth goal in two consecutive matches.
Five minutes later Valverde was shown a straight red card for a foul on Alex Baena. Madrid themselves, and plenty of neutrals watching felt a yellow was sufficient. It was a foul, yes, but it was from behind chasing the ball. The red card felt harsh, and Valverde was gone with 13 minutes left and Madrid had to hold on with ten men.
They held on. Julián Álvarez struck the post in the final minutes but the ball stayed out. Real Madrid won 3-2 and cut the gap to Barcelona back to four points.
Five consecutive wins now for Arbeloa’s side. A title race that looked finished a week ago is now alive again, just about.
Now let’s talk about Trent Alexander-Arnold, because his situation is a story in itself.
Before kick-off, reports emerged that Alexander-Arnold had been dropped from the starting lineup after arriving late to a training session. His replacement? Dani Carvajal, who started at right back. And the thing is, Trent still came on as a substitute. And it was his cross-field pass that created Vinicius’ winner.
Think about that for a second, dropped for a disciplinary reason, comes off the bench, provides the match-winning assist. That tells you how good this player is when he’s right.
Vinicius, though. He’s the story.
Four goals in two games, a brace to win the Champions League second leg, a brace to win the derby. And this is the same man who has spent this season fighting racist abuse, fighting for his dignity, fighting for the right to simply play football without being targeted. He spoke last week about carrying that weight. And then he goes out and scores goals like that.
Arbeloa said after the game that Vinicius is “not far off” career-best form. Looking at the last two weeks, it’s hard to argue with that.
