Without Benzema, Friends. The Brazilian will have to assume the offensive leadership of Real Madrid in Vila-Real and recover an attack that was considerably bogged down last day against Granada due to the absence of Karim… and of Karim himself. vinicius.
The emerging white star has endorsed the very Spanish saying that there is no evil that does not come for good. The match against the Nasrids was lost due to an accumulation of cautions, but that helped him take a breather. Necessary because it came from the effort to join the matches with Brazil and the one with San Mamés in the Cup and that multiplied the chances of an injury, but also for recover freshness for this visit to La Cerámica and especially the trip to Paris on Tuesday.
One Friends cool is a guarantee for Ancelotti in the Italian’s mission to recover the mordant lost in the last two games in which Benzema’s absence was noted. That single (but transcendental) goal by Asensio against Granada prevented a week of martyrdom for the coach and the team. Vinicius’s joy returns to revitalize his team and also to threaten Emery’s system.
For Vinicius himself it is a personal incentive because Villarreal has been a bone for him since he arrived at Madrid. In their seven matches against him yellow Submarine was discreet: no goals or assists. That has not happened with any LaLiga opponent who has been measured so many times. For example, he has not managed to score against Athletic and Atlético, but he has given goal passes (once against the lions and three in his Derbies) against them.
Relevant in a year of a lot of work…
Despite that forced rest against Granada, Vinicius’s new star role is taking him to levels of demand that he did not know. Right now he is only 178 minutes away from surpassing everything he played in the past this year, but he already exceeds what he did in 2020-21 by nine goals. While Karim returnsVinicius has to be the white hurricane.