Real Madrid manager Xabi Alonso brushed aside Vinicius Junior’s annoyance at getting substituted, insisting that even if the player wasn’t happy, he was pleased with the Brazilian forward.
Vinicius has spent the past four seasons as an undisputed starter for Real Madrid, establishing himself as a figurehead of Carlo Ancelotti’s serial winners. That untouchable status has rapidly evaporated during Alonso’s brief reign.
The 25-year-old was dropped in place of Rodrygo for Madrid’s Champions League opener against Marseille in midweek and also started the club’s first away game of the new league season on the bench.
Alonso named Vinicius in his starting XI for the visit of Espanyol on Saturday afternoon but took him off in the 77th minute with Madrid 2–0 up. The fleet-footed forward had laid the ball off for Kylian Mbappé’s thumping strike two minutes after the break and, by Alonso’s own admission, was enjoying his best spell of the game when his No. 7 flickered across the fourth official’s board.
Vinicius tossed a water bottle onto the ground and wafted his arms around in disbelief before Alonso grabbed him for a chat on the touchline.
The former Madrid midfielder had no qualms with his player’s reaction. “The only thing Vinicius was missing was a goal,” Alonso told assembled media postmatch. “It’s true that he came off the pitch when he was feeling best and I could have waited a bit to replace him, but I understood that we needed fresh players to maintain control. Vinicius wanted to stay on because he was feeling good.”
“Franco [Mastantuono] wanted to carry on playing too,” Alonso pointed out. “He said to me, ‘Are you taking me off?’ And I said, ‘Yes.’ Something similar happened with Vini.”
“He wasn’t very happy, but neither was Franco.” Alonso concluded. “It happens to everyone, but I’m very happy with Vinicius’s performance. The schedule is demanding and we have to keep going.”
One player who seems impervious to Alonso’s rotational demands is Mbappé. The Frenchman extended his fine start to the season with a blistering goal from range and could very well have added another after rattling off eight shots on Saturday.
Mbappé was not taken off until the 89th minute—when he made no fuss as he was replaced by the returning Jude Bellingham—after operating in a more withdrawn position for the first time under Alonso.
“Today he played a more different role, as a playmaker, and we talked about what we needed, and he had a responsibility to be closer to the midfielders, with all that that entails,” Madrid’s manager gushed. “Kylian understands soccer very well and does perfectly what you ask him to do. It was for another role in a slightly different position than usual.”
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as ‘Not Very Happy’—Xabi Alonso Gives Verdict on Vinicius Jr’s Real Madrid Tantrum.