Vinicius Junior and the Tragedy of Going From Madrid’s Leader to an Afterthought

Tragedy: a narrative, poem, or story describing the downfall of a once-great man.

The day is October 25, 2024. Vinicius Junior ends his final session of the day of training under Carlo Ancelotti before going home and having a refreshing rest. The world is his.

Tomorrow he plays one of his favorite opponents, Barcelona, at home in the Bernabéu. In just under 20 appearances against Real Madrid’s Catalan enemies, Vini had scored seven goals and bagged four assists, including a hat-trick less than a year earlier in the Supercopa final, a resounding 4-1 Madrid victory in Riyadh on the way to a clean sweep of the Clasicos that season. Better still, Ronald Araujo, the man used to marking Vini in these clashes was out through a long-term injury suffered in the summer, and wouldn’t be there to shadow the Brazilian.

The 24-year-old was on loads of confidence. Just earlier that week, Vini had played the role of catalyst to a Madrid turnaround against Dortmund in the Champions League, coming back from 2-0 down to win 5-2, scoring a hat-trick in the process. Despite the addition of Kylian Mbappe, who Vini was still learning to play with, Vini had still been considered Los Blancos’ top performer that season, having hit eight and assisted four on the season so far.

But the best part of it all was to come two days after the Clasico. After elite performances that led to a Real Madrid La Liga/Champions League double, winning Madrid’s 15th Champions League to put them in further uncatchable territory. He was the true king of Madrid, wearing the #7 that once belonged to greats like Cristiano Ronaldo, Raul, and Mariano Diaz. Little did Vini know when he went to sleep that night that the events of the following 72 hours would set into motion a decline that, while it still sees him as one of the main characters of the discussions around his club, sees him as an afterthought on the pitch during matches.

The Downfall

Despite the absence of Ronald Araujo, Vini would be anonymous in the Clasico, a 4-0 loss to a Barcelona side who would make a statement of intent in the leadup to back-to-back La Liga titles. The following day, knowledge of Rodri’s Ballon D’Or win prompted a Madrid boycott of the ceremony, with Los Blancos feeling like their Brazilian star had been “robbed” of a deserved trophy. Whether he was or not has been a debate ever since.

Following his loss of the Ballon D’Or, Vini would release a one-sentence statement on social media that would live on in infamy.

The post roughly translates to: “I’ll do it 10x if I must. They’re not prepared.”

We never got to know what “10x” meant. Did it mean that he’d have that exact season ten times? Did it mean he’d have a season ten times better than that one? Either way, neither of those things happened. It also appeared that the mysterious “they” he referred to were, in fact, prepared for his production over the next two years.

Over the next year, Vini would produce very well, sure. However, despite his overall numbers continuing of the rate of his Ballon d’Or season, it was a disappointing follow-up season from the Brazilian. Just barely hitting double figures in La Liga as well as disappointing Champions League ties against City, Atleti, and Arsenal disappointed many fans.

That, combined with Madrid’s first trophyless season since 2021 was a major disappointment. Much was blamed on Carlo Ancelotti’s failure to be able to make Vini and Mbappe a cohesive unit in attack. Frequently, the two superstars were found in the exact same position, drifting left and getting in each other’s way during attacking moves.

Vini’s 2nd-place finish in the Ballon d’Or in 2024 fell to 16th in 2025, and in search of a bounce-back year in 2025/26, went on a goalless run from early October to the Supercopa final in January, a massive 19-game stretch for Los Blancos without a goal. This stretch of the season would also be highlighted by a battle between Vini and newly-appointed manager Xabi Alonso, the man thought to be Carlo Ancelotti’s long-term replacement and the future of Real Madrid.

Alonso and Vini’s styles clashed from the start of the Spaniard’s time at the Bernabeu, with feelings coming to a head in El Clasico in October, with the Brazilian making a scene after being substituted in the 72nd minute, letting the world know that he believed that he was the one always coming off early in every match, and threatening to leave the club. Despite Madrid’s 2-1 win, their only El Clasico win in seven attempts since Kylian Mbappe’s arrival, it was still the beginning of the end for Xabi Alonso.

Following an incredibly poor spell in November and December, seeing Madrid go from five points up in La Liga after El Clasico to four points back just seven gameweeks later, as well as a loss to Barcelona in the Supercopa final, Xabi Alonso was sacked at the start of January 2026. The manager who Madrid had been courting for years and who they picked as the long-term solution to the position lost his role after just six months.

While poor performance was a factor in Alonso’s premature sacking, the widely agreed upon main reason was breakdown in relations with the stars, Vini being chief among them. Once stars like Kylian Mbappe started to show more sway among the dressing room than their own manager, with a clip circulating after the Supercopa final of Los Blancos’ leading scorer waving the team off the pitch after the loss despite Alonso demanding that the team stay to show respect to their opponents. All but two players followed Mbappe off of the Jeddah pitch. Alonso was sacked less than 24 hours later.

Under interim manager Alvaro Arbeloa, Vini would regain his form, ending the season with similar numbers to the year before. Going into the World Cup, Vini would start off incredibly well , scoring four goals in the group stages and leading Brazil to winning the group. However, come the knockout stages, the goals would dry up, going goalless as Brazil would be knocked out to Norway in the Round of 16. The major talking point surrounding Vini was his letting Bruno Guimaraes take a crucial penalty in the first half, a poorly-taken penalty that would be saved and, if scored, could have taken the match to at least extra time.

Vini would still end up on the Ballon d’Or list for his performances that season, and may improve on his 16th-place finish in 2025, but will certainly not end up winning the award after a second-consecutive trophyless season with Madrid and Brazil.

Following the World Cup, the drama surrounding Vini would only increase. The winger would get a ‘chin harmonization’ surgery following Brazil’s elimination, and he would also grow a beard that made him unrecognizable. More than that however, the Brazilian would get involved in a saga, a will-he-won’t-he surrounding his contract extension, with a move to Arsenal on the cards if he didn’t renew. Following two weeks of drama, the 26-year-old would sign on a six-year extension, taking a contract that would make him €50 million a year until two weeks before his 32nd birthday. Los Blancos had officially invested their stocks in their #7, which was odd considering their €140 million acquisition of Yan Diomande days before the contract was signed and their obvious need of a midfielder rather than yet another forward.

Rock-bottom

That takes us to this season, a season that is looking by far the worst out of the winger. In 11 appearances for Real Madrid so far this season, Vini has scored just once and has slowly seen his patience running out amongst the Madrid faithful, as well as with his manager, Jose Mourinho. The Brazilian’s worst moments include a viral disasterclass against India with Brazil, his constant early substitutions, as well as his nine-match dry spell with Madrid, but by far his worst moment came against Villarreal in the first match after international break.

After speaking out about needing confidence during the break, and coming on in the 52nd minute after being benched for the first time all season, Vini seemed to have turned a corner after scoring against Villarreal to go 2-0 up. The entire team surrounded the Brazilian, including Mourinho, who ran to Vini all the way from his technical area. However, by the time the manager returned, referee Isidro Diaz was at the VAR screen to check the goal. Not only was the goal disallowed, but the winger was sent off for a hair pull on Canadian midfielder Nathan Saliba in the buildup.

Vinicius was served with a four-match ban from La Liga for the violent conduct, limiting him to just Champions League matches until the return from the November international break. In the three matches since Vini’s suspension at the time of writing, Madrid have won all three, scoring 12 in the process. Nine of the goals have come without Vini on the pitch.

The future

On Sunday, Real Madrid face Barcelona in the biggest Clasico of the season. Vini has played less than half of Madrid’s minutes in their last three matches, and Los Blancos have picked up their best form so far all season in the leadup to their clash with their famous rivals. Vini, still to serve the last three games of his league suspension, will be watching the clash, like the rest of us, from his couch.

Reports have, perhaps prematurely, floated the idea of Vini leaving Los Blancos in January. While premature, it could be a sign of things to come if the Brazilian’s form doesn’t improve soon.

What makes it worse is the acquisition of Yan Diomande, Real Madrid’s mega-money 20-year-old future of the wing. Which wing? Well, it seems more and more like 21-year-old Arda Guler is an indispensable part of this Madrid side, and will be leading the right wing for years, which leaves just one other spot for Diomande. Unfortunately for Vini, it’s the side that the 26-year-old has called his own for the past five years.

So far, Diomande has far outplayed Vini this season. The Ivorian has been more involved in buildup and creativity when he’s been on the pitch, and in 300 fewer minutes has bagged seven goal contributions to Vini’s four this season. If this trend continues, it’s hard to see Diomande not becoming the starter in the near-future.

So then, what does the future hold for Vini? The answer depends on how the rest of this season goes for him. If this season keeps going as it has been, Vini may find himself starting the 2027/28 season as Madrid’s backup. If he can regain his form, which is what I believe will eventually happen, he can stop the skid and end the season positively, similarly to last season.

Vini is an incredibly emotion-driven footballer. When things aren’t going well for him, they keep going poorly. That being said, he is an amazingly talented player whose emotions make him suceptible to hot and cold streaks. As long as he relies on his world-class talent, which is still there, I’m sure that he will break this duck at some point in this still-long campaign.

Once he starts scoring again, his confidence will build back up, quickly. I believe that if the winger hadn’t pulled Nathan Saliba’s hair, this post likely wouldn’t have had to be made, and the Brazilian would have scored at least one other goal since the Villarreal game.

Then again, maybe a change of scenery is just what’s best for Vini. Since Kylian Mbappe’s arrival to the Bernabeu, the 26-year-old hasn’t been able to regain the form and confidence that he had in the three seasons prior. It’s not that Vini has to have the spotlight to himself – he shared it incredibly well with Karim Benzema and Jude Bellingham – but he needs at least part of it. Since Kylian Mbappe’s arrival in the Spanish capital, there has been a big French high-scoring figure hogging the spotlight. While Jude Bellingham can work just fine without the spotlight, Vini is affected by not having it.

Even if Vini regains his form at some point this season, who’s to say that we aren’t having these exact same discussions next year while the same issues that have affected Madrid for the past two seasons and continue to affect them now remain going into the foreseeable future? Florentino Perez has always had image – of himself and the club – near the forefront of his mind when making decisions as Real Madrid president.

Over the years, his fixation on image has grown, and so, after chasing him for the better part of seven years, it’s hard to see Florentino Perez letting go of Kylian Mbappe as long as he remains president – or until Mbappe reaches his mid-30s. Chasing a superstar for seven years just to sell him after three or four unsuccessful seasons would be a horrible look on the president, and would equate to him essentially admitting that Real Madrid’s 10-plus year saga surrounding Kylian Mbappe was all a massive waste of time.

Having just won Real Madrid’s presidential elections, Perez remains in power until at least 2030, by which time Vini will be 30 and likely approaching the end of his best years, considering the unreliable longevity of skill and pace-reliant wingers. Does Vini want to keep repeating this cycle for the rest of his prime years?

His love for Madrid (or their €50 million a year offer) showed after his contract saga in the summer, but could a move to lead a team like Arsenal actually be better for his career? We may never know. And that’s okay, because, like most tragedies, this story doesn’t have a satisfying, reassuring ending. Not yet, at least.