He never stopped believing in Vinicius, against everything and everyone

Vinicius Junior has returned to the version of himself from 2024, the one that came close to winning the Ballon d’Or before it ended up in the hands of Rodri. He was indispensable and decisive then, just as he is again a year and a half later. In the fall of 2024, he was hit by an unexpected blow after the reports and messages he received led him to believe the award was his. His game became predictable, but the worst period for the Brazilian came later, once Carlo Ancelotti was no longer on the Real Madrid bench. His lack of understanding with Xabi Alonso led him to doubt whether he would remain at the club. That thought is now in the past.

The understanding is now complete, and he shows it in every conversation he has with the club’s executives. He has once again become that game-changing player, and he is showing that his future lies with Real Madrid. Nobody doubts that an agreement to extend the contract that runs through June 30, 2027, is necessary for the club and closer than ever to becoming reality.

Everything has changed, but some of the high-pressure moments during those six months working with Xabi Alonso convinced everyone – or rather, almost everyone – that the forward’s days at Real Madrid were over. But as happened with Karim Benzema in 2014, there was one person who knew everything would change. That person was Florentino Pérez. Twelve years later, history has repeated itself.

The Real Madrid president made it his personal mission to restore the Brazilian to his best form. Dismissed outside Madrid circles because of his gestures, Vinicius has always been seen at Valdebebas – or at least by those in charge and many of his teammates – as a fundamental asset, a franchise player they had to recover no matter what.

Conversations, or even just a few words of support before games or in meetings at Valdebebas, helped Vinicius understand that he was not alone and that he had the institution’s backing despite everything being said outside the club. Even so, they knew that under the previous coach, that was going to be impossible.

As with Benzema, the club president is the one who has worked to create the right environment for everything to return to normal. “The president always tells me I’m going to score two goals,” he told Real Madrid TV. And the belief that has taken hold inside the club over the past month is that he is the player capable of winning games.

One of the first things Álvaro Arbeloa did when he arrived on the Real Madrid bench was speak with Vinicius, make clear that he had his full support and trust, and then project that message publicly – first through his words and then through his decisions on the field. The first step was to forget the idea that the Brazilian was almost always one of the players taken off.

Statistics in soccer always need context, but they once again show that this Vinicius is a different player. So far this season, he has missed only the league game in Valencia. In his last six Champions League games, he has five goals and three assists. In his first six, with Xabi Alonso on the bench, he had one goal and two assists. In the first half of the league season, he posted five goals and five assists. In the eight games he has played in the second half, he already has six goals. Across the full season, he is now up to 17 goals and 12 assists, closing in on the best numbers of previous campaigns – 24 goals and 19 assists.

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