At a glance
- Vinicius scored a brace against Espanyol on Sunday to seal a must-needed 2-0 win for Real Madrid
- The victory meant Los Blancos’ faint title hopes are still alive, and that they don’t have to give FC Barcelona a guard of honour in El Clasico.
- Star players such as the Brazilian are relishing the challenge against the Catalans.
Real Madrid winger Vinicius Jr. is looking forward to El Clasico on Sunday after saving his team’s blushes to some extent at the Spotify Camp Nou.
With the Catalans beating Osasuna 2-1 in El Sadar on Saturday, a loss or a draw to Espanyol for Los Blancos would’ve meant having to form a guard of honour for their eternal nemesis.
Thanks to Vinicius’ stunning double at the RCDE Stadium, however, that won’t be necessary. Barca, 11 points clear, can still wrap up the title by beating Madrid. Yet that doesn’t bother Vinicius, who relishes starring in the world’s biggest derby.
“We have to have a good week again to be able to compete and play as we did today. It’s a game that we love to play and hopefully we can prepare well and get here again and win,” he told Real Madrid TV post-match.
Vinicius has faith in this Real Madrid team
Despite closing in on a second season without major silverware, Vinicius has faith in this team. “We have to continue like this because we are a very good group,” he insisted. “We know that the season has not been as we wanted, but we have the opportunity to try to change things in every game for next season. I’m sure we’ll be back at the top, which is what this club needs. We can’t drop anything.”
As for reaching 20 goals or more in the last five seasons, in stunning figures for a wideman, Vinicius said that he’s “worked hard every year to be able to reach this number – to win titles and games like today’s”.
For Vinicius, the Espanyol win showed promise because “we fought and played together”.
“When we play like this we are better and stronger. I had the opportunity to score two goals and be able to help the team, which is always the most important thing. We worked very well all week and we were sure that we were going to play a great game and we did. Now it’s time to think about the next game, which is the Clasico, and a great game is coming”.
Against Barca on May 10 then, Vinicius is the great hope of a side that could be without Kylian Mbappe in the lion’s den.
