>
Carlo Ancelotti hails Vinicius Jr as “the most decisive player in world football” after the Real Madrid winger’s double in a 5-2 thrashing of Liverpool, as the delighted Italian praises his team for keeping “cool” when trailed 2-0 during the “historic victory”.
- Vinicius Jr scored twice from just three shots with Real Madrid against Liverpool
- La Real are firm favorites to reach the quarterfinals of the Champions League now
- The red-hot winger Vinicius already has 18 in all competitions this season
Real Madrid’s Vinicius Jr is second to none when it comes to inflicting damage on opponents, his coach Carlo Ancelotti said after the Brazilian scored twice in a spectacular 5-2 comeback win at Liverpool on Tuesday.
Liverpool had taken a 2-0 lead at Anfield, but a double from Vinicius leveled the game before half-time and set the stage for a resounding victory in the first leg of the Champions League round of 16.
“Vinicius is the most decisive player in world football today,” Ancelotti said at a press conference.
‘There is no player with this continuity of action. He doesn’t stop and keep going. I hope he can continue like this.
Vinicius has arguably become his team’s most important player after capping his breakthrough season by scoring the goal that gave Real Madrid their 14th European Cup title, a record he extended with a 1-1 win. -0 over Liverpool last year.
Vinicius Jr has earned the applause of Carlo Ancelotti after his double against Liverpool
Vinicius scored twice from just three shots as Real Madrid came from behind to win 5-2
He is the player with the most goal attempts (28) and shots on goal (15) in the Champions League this season and is the player with the most fouls in the five major European leagues (82).
Vinicius scored twice in three attempts against Liverpool this Tuesday and -at just 22 years old- he is already the second top scorer against the English team in the Champions League with five goals, one behind Karim Benzema, and ahead of Didier Drogba (four) and Frank Lampard. (three).
After Liverpool went 2-0 ahead, Vinicius struck back with a sublime shot and doubled his tally with a fluke second after Liverpool goalkeeper Alisson lobbed the ball straight at him.
“Vinicius was brilliant as always,” Ancelotti said.
‘It was a historic victory, especially because if you consider where we played and how we started the game, we were two goals behind.
“But we never backed down and we stayed calm, we didn’t panic and turned a very difficult game around.”
After scoring 22 goals with 20 assists last season, Vinicius has already scored 18 in all competitions this campaign and was named player of the tournament at the Club World Cup in January, helping Real Madrid secure a fifth title that extends the record.
The Real Madrid coach, Ancelotti, has described the Brazilian as ‘the most decisive player in world football’