Will Vinicius Jr. play against Barcelona in the friendly match in Metlife Stadium?

Real Madrid’s pre-season campaign got underway in Chicago, where the team led by Carlo Ancelotti suffered a 1-0 defeat to AC Milan. The side put out by the Italian manager featured a large number of youth team prospects, with many of the major names in the squad failing to see minutes on the pitch for various reasons.

While Luka Modric, Thibaut Courtois and Lucas Vázquez all made the cut, players such as Dani Carvajal, Jude Bellingham and Kylian Mbappé were not available to play.

And amongst them, one name in particular stood out: Vinicius Jr. The Brazilian winger did not see a single minute and as such, with such a huge game coming up, many fans have questioned whether or not he will see action against Barcelona.

Pre-season friendlies may not have anything on the line, games against Barcelona are never meaningless. The spark of rivalry is always there, and the two teams will not only be looking to wow the fans, but also get one over on their rivals.

Fans rightly want to see Vini Jr play against the culés, so here’s the latest:

Will Vinicius Jr. play against Barcelona?

Vini Jr, along with Rodrygo and Éder Militão, joined up with the rest of the squad on August 1. The trio had extended holidays due to their Copa América participation, although social media has shown all of them putting in the work to arrive at Carlo Ancelotti’s training camp in the best conditions possible.

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Whether they will actually feature or not is a different question altogether. Risking three key players so early on in their pre-season preparations could well be seen as a risk by Ancelotti and his staff, and as such we’re not sure whether or not Vini Jr will play. However, the unlimited use of substitutions and the lack of a competitive on-pitch atmosphere may increase the chances of seeing him at some point during the game.

Kylian Mbappé, Jude Bellingham, Dani Carvajal, Aurélien Tchouaméni, Eduardo Camavinga, Ferland Mendy and Fede Valverde will not feature at all in the United States, as they have been left behind in the Spanish capital to undergo a different pre-season plan. They all featured for their respective countries during the summer and went deep into the tournament, meaning that playing them in a non-competitive game is simply not worth the risk.