Vinicius Jr. wants to focus on La Liga after exiting the Champions League

Real Madrid lost 0-2 to Chelsea at Stamford Bridge in the second leg of the Champions League on Wednesday night.

Vinicius Jr in a file photo; Credit: Twitter@vinijr
By Karthik Raman | May 6, 2021 | 2 Min Read follow icon Follow Us

Real Madrid’s Brazilian attacker Vinicius Jr. wants to “remain focused” on the challenges lying ahead of them after exiting the Champions League. Real Madrid suffered a 0-2 loss at Stamford Bridge in the second leg of the competition on Wednesday night as Chelsea progressed to the final on a 3-1 aggregate win. Sitting second in the table, with only two points behind leaders Atletico Madrid, Vinicius Jr. wants to focus on the upcoming league matches to finish the season on a high.

“We were up against a good side who play some great football. We tried everything we could and now it’s time to fight for LaLiga,” Vinicius Jr. added. “It’s tough not to have won it but we’ve got four hugely important games left to try and win the league.”

“It’s normal for a team that has won everything in recent years to lose at some point but we’re going to keep working hard to win big things for our fans. We have to remain focused.”

On Wednesday night, Vinicius Jr. did not play in his usual left flank and started as a right wing-back against Chelsea. Speaking about the positional change, he said, “It was a new position for me tonight but the coach explained everything I needed to do, even if I didn’t manage to do anything too good for the team. I have to keep working towards winning LaLiga.”

Zidane on the new position

Real Madrid manager Zinedine Zidane believes the Brazilian did a “good job” in his new role. Zidane said, “His position today was different to where he usually plays. But with three at the back we had to have two wing-backs. Vinicius Jr. could play there and that was the idea.”

“We had to set the team up like that tonight. Vinicius Jr. can do a job there; he prefers to play on the left but tonight he played as a right wing-back. He had the whole flank and he did a good job.”

Zidane also explained the decision behind substituting Vinicius Jr. just past the hour mark. “The first changes were for Vinicius Jr. and Mendy. I changed the wing-backs because we had to exploit that part of the pitch more and that’s what they did,” he elaborated.





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