Real Madrid have suffered a blow ahead of Wednesday’s UEFA Champions League match against Liverpool at Anfield with the news that Vinicius Junior will be out for the next few weeks after being injured in the 3-0 victory over Leganés in La Liga last weekend. The Brazilian superstar has 12 goals and six assists in all competitions and will be a big miss for Carlo Ancelotti and Los Blancos, with the Italian likely to be affected by this given the Spanish and European champions were 2-0 up after 66 minutes. Vini Jr. reached 90.
The South American’s absence is a great opportunity for Kylian Mbappé, who opened the scoring in the victory at Butarque with his ninth goal in all competitions, as well as two more assists, as the French international looks to improve his start with Los Merengues. Vini Jr. provided Mbappé with the assist for the goal over the weekend, but the Spanish giants’ firepower has now been seriously affected ahead of an important trip to face Liverpool, who have won 100% of their UCL matches so far.
“Kylian is more used to playing on the wings,” Ancelotti said after Sunday’s game. “It was better for the team to have him there because he tires more on the sides than in the middle. Vinicius just returned from his international commitment on Thursday and trained with us. Kylian was fresher than Vinicius and did a good job.” Work with the goal that had a fantastic assist from Vinicius. “They are both improving little by little.”
Further complicating matters for the Italian tactician is Rodrygo’s injury, which has kept him out of late and will also rule him out on Merseyside and essentially dictates that Mbappé suddenly returns to being the main man in attack as used to be the case with Paris. Saint-Germain. The huge opportunity for Mbappé to make a real statement for Real cannot be underestimated, given that Arne Slot’s Reds have four wins from four in Europe and are therefore not exposed to the same level of risk as the champions. defenders.
Positionally, it is difficult for Ancelotti, who has just placed Vini Jr. in the middle to take advantage of Mbappé’s greater freshness, only to see the Brazilian international struck down at a time when both attacking stars were needed. Unless Real Madrid take a risk with their setup, the French superstar will logically have to be the main focal point of the attack given that there is no credible alternative despite playing on the left which better suits his game.
Jude Bellingham can step up and provide a more similar boost to last season, but there’s no guarantee it will be a seamless transition under Mbappe given Vini Jr. and Rodrygo have had much more time to get used to it. There is also an excellent supporting cast of Arda Guler, Endrick and Brahim Díaz, who could also benefit from more opportunities, also offering Ancelotti the chance to go with Mbappé as part of a two or three forwards, as well as alone.
Given his assist against Leganés, Guler is arguably in the best position to benefit from this unexpected change of plans, but Endrick also has the chance to send a reminder of why Real spent so much to bring him in alongside Mbappé, having recently fallen out of favor with Brazil in the past. month. Brahim Díaz may have more experience than the Turkiye international, but Guler’s precocious talent and the need to have Fede Valverde at right back should force Ancelotti to get a little ahead of what could be the decisive match for Mbappé’s era with Real until now.
