Ancelotti drops Vinicius hint after brilliant brace for Real Madrid

After making a superb start under Carlo Ancelotti, Vinicius Junior hopes it will help convince the Real Madrid manager to hand him more opportunities.

Carlo Ancelotti has hinted Vinicius Junior could start in Real Madrid’s next La Liga game after his superb start to the season.

Vinicius has only played 66 minutes in La Liga this season and hasn’t even started a game. But it’s the Brazilian, not Karim Benzema, who is Real Madrid’s top-scorer. He has scored three goals in two appearances, including a brace in Sunday’s thrilling 3-3 draw at Levante.

His latest super sub-display spared Ancelotti’s unbeaten start for his second spell as Real Madrid and could lead to a starting role in the club’s clash with Real Betis this Saturday.

“He’ll be important to us. He may start next week’s game, we’ll have to see,” said Ancelotti in a post-match conference on Sunday. “It’s more important that you’re on the pitch at the end of the game rather than at the start and he did that today thanks to his freshness and ability.”

Is Vini a great goalscorer?

Since a €46 million move from Flamengo in 2018, Vinicius hasn’t always delivered in the final third. In fact, he has scored only 17 goals in 120 appearances for Real Madrid overall.

Under Ancelotti, however, he has enjoyed a prolific start in the Italian’s first two games. The pacey 21-year-old cooly scored against Levante following an excellent through ball from Casemiro. He then added a second goal with a brilliant dink into the far post to salvage a point.

“Vinicius Jr. has the quality and is very quick,” Ancelotti said on Vinicius’ scoring ability.

“Is he a great goalscorer? I don’t know about that, because he enjoys playing out wide. He needs to score goals like the first one he got, by taking players on, because he’s quicker than his opponents. It’s tougher for him when in the box, but given his quality, he’s capable of scoring goals from range and in one-on-one situations.”