After losing 0-4 to FC Barcelona in El Clasico and boycotting the Ballon d'Or gala, Real Madrid returned to play only on Tuesday (Last weekend's match against Valencia was postponed due to flooding). And in the Champions League match against Milan, Vinicius Junior shined, the second player in this year's plebiscite of the “France Football” magazine.
Vinicius Junior lifted Real Madrid. He won a penalty and this happened
Real was losing from the 12th minute when Malick Thiaw converted a corner kick into a goal. But a few minutes later, Vinicius ran into the opponents' penalty area and was fouled by Emerson Royal. The winger decided to take responsibility and placed the ball on the penalty spot.
After a while, the Real star completely surprised Mike Maignan. Instead of hitting the ball forcefully or in the corner of the goal, he decided on a completely different solution and with a delicate cut into the middle of the goal, the so-called “Panenka”, he equalized the score.
Vinicius Junior like Karim Benzema, Real Madrid waited two years for this
It turns out that Madrid waited a long time for such a penalty kick to be taken. “Vinicius scored a penalty kick in Panenka style, which a Real Madrid player has not done in the Champions League since April 26, 2022 (Benzema against Manchester City),” wrote journalist and football statistician Alexis Martin-Tamayo, known as Mister Chip, on X. The two shots were separated by 924 days.
Meanwhile, Real had several opportunities to break this streak. The above-mentioned Benzema also scored a penalty in the return match against City in the 2021/22 season, although he decided on a different solution. However, in the 2022/23 season, the “elevens” were played by Rodrygo (2/2 used) and Luka Modrić (1/1), and in the 2023/24 season, Vinicus (1/1) and Modrić (0/1). The penalty awarded in the match against Milan was the first for Real in this edition of the Champions League.
By halftime, the defending champions were losing 1-2 to Milan, as Alvaro Morata scored in the 39th minute. Text coverage of Tuesday's Champions League matches can be followed on Sport.pl and in the Sport.pl LIVE mobile application.