Aurelien Tchouameni lauds Vinicius Jr. after goal to seal Champions League playoff tie over Benfica

Aurelien Tchouameni was named Man of the Match for the second straight Champions League match but he was quick to rain praise on his Brazilian teammate after Real Madrid´s 2-1 win in the second leg of the playoff against Benfica.

Vini´s scoring streak

The French midfielder scored the 1-1 in the 15th minute only moments after Benfica took the lead with a goal from Rafa Silva. Not only did he score his first goal of the campaign but he controlled the midfield, dominating on the defensive third while pacing play while Los Blancos were in possession.

With a 2-1 lead in the aggregate, Vinicius broke the tie open with a breakaway goal that he tucked him past Benfica keeper Anatolii Trubin. The goal, which proved to be the decisive goal in the second leg, is Vinicius Jr.´s sixth goal in his last five matches.

While collecting his second straight Man of the Match trophy in the Champions League, the Madrid midfielder was asked about Vinicius after the match. Tchouameni was quick to point out, “This is our Vini,” referring to the Brazilian´s resurgence under manager Alvaro Arbeloa.

Tchouameni: “Today is my day”

Vinicius went right to the corner flag to celebrate the goal in the same fashion he did in at the Estadio da Luz a week ago before the controversy involving Gianluca Prestianni. Vinicius Jr. has now scored all three of his Champions League goals in the last three fixtures in Europes top competition.

Tchouameni also spoke on his goal, and said it was something that his teammate might have seen coming since the prematch warmup at the Bernabeu. “In the warmup I was scoring a lot of goals, and we said before the match ´Today is my day.´ I’m very happy to have helped the squad,¨ said Tchouameni.

This could be something we see more of from the French international considering his manager has been urging him to push up and present himself with more scoring chances. “The “mister” Alvaro Arbeloa asked me to push up a little more, and he wants to help me score more goals, and I’ve got to continue playing that way,” said the MVP of two matches in a row. Madrid are on to the Top 16 where they will face either Sporting Lisboa or Manchester City.

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