Vinicius raises the bar
Real Madrid CF won at Olimpico de Kiev on their visit to Shakhtar Donetsk in the third matchday of the Champions’ League group stage to put right the qualification issue that had been complicated by their last defeat at home to Sheriff Tiraspol, in what was the big surprise of the competition the previous matchday.
The Madrid side ran out 5-0 winners against the Ukrainian side, one of the regular fixtures in Europe's top club competition, who were also in the same group as the Chamartin side last year and managed to beat Zinedine Zidane's side in both legs. This season the team coached by Italian Roberto de Zerbi is not the same as last year and after suffering defeat against Sheriff they succumbed again to a very solid Real Madrid who were superior.
The match was disputed in the opening stages, but Real Madrid soon began to take control, with their traditional midfield of recent years consisting of Casemiro, Toni Kroos and Luka Modric, who once again formed the Madrid midfield that has given so much to the club; after the first goal, with some good fortune after a poor clearance on own goal by Ukrainian captain Kryvtsov, there was no more discussion and Carlo Ancelotti's team gradually took control of the game. Especially after the second and third goals, scored by Vinicius Jr in the second half. Particularly noteworthy was the second of his personal tally and the third for the white team, which was a real exhibition of a run, dribbling in the box (where he usually burns the ball) and calmly finishing in front of the home goalkeeper Trubin. Then came another fine intervention from the Brazilian in which he laid the ball off for his compatriot Rodrygo to fire home to make it 4-0 in the second half.
Karim Benzema closed out the scoring in stoppage time; the Madrid nine-goaler remains in spectacular form and continues to lead the Madrid attack as he has done in recent years in the wake of Cristiano Ronaldo's departure and Gareth Bale's absence.
Vinicius once again dazzled in the Madrid ranks. He had a great deal of pace, verticality, short dribbling, long dribbling on the run, enormous power, and again yesterday, precise passes for goal assists and also a nose for goal, the great novelty of this season for the Brazilian international, who was accused of lacking clarity in the final metres to give the final pass or finish a play in front of goal, something that this year seems to be correcting by leaps and bounds, with a serenity and coolness in the area that gives him a clarity in front of goal that opens up a new dimension for a player with enormous potential.
During this 2021-2022 season, for the moment, the Brazilian has five goals in eight games played in La Liga, with two assists for his teammates, and two goals in three games played in the Champions League, with another assist. In total, he has played a key role in ten goals in the eleven matches played so far in the two most important competitions played by the Madrid team.
That was what was missing in Vinicius' game, that he was decisive in the materialisation of chances in the opposing area. The buzz on the pitch was often worrying to see him arrive and arrive with ease in dangerous positions, but without making the right decision at the last moment, both when shooting and when assisting a team-mate. Now, it seems that he has picked up the thread in that sense and adding that effectiveness to a huge overflowing capacity, physical exuberance and attacking insistence, we are looking at a player who can mark an epoch.
While awaiting the expected reinforcements up front, such as Kylian Mbappé, to help Karim Benzema, Vinicius has taken a step forward to give Real Madrid the arguments to fight for titles this season. For the moment, with this win over Shakhtar, Real Madrid are now top of their Champions’ League group, level on points with surprise package Sheriff and two points clear of Inter Milan, who are expected to be their main rivals for the top spot. Now comes Sunday's all-important league game against Barcelona, where we will see what the real title race is all about.
The other Spanish team in Champions League action was Atletico Madrid. Atletico went down 2-3 in a heroic match against Liverpool, which complicates their progress to the next round as the English team is now in first place in the group and Portuguese side Porto are level with them in the table.
Diego Pablo Simeone's side started 2-0 down to Liverpool's inspired Mohammed Salah but managed to level the score through grit and good play and an incisive Antoine Griezmann. Then came the sending off of the Frenchman and despite playing better than the Reds, the defeat came with a penalty goal converted by Egypt's Salah.
The match ended with controversy due to a penalty given in Atlético's favour that the referee rectified after consulting with the VAR, which further inflamed tempers.
