Red alert for Vinicius

At Valdebebas, there was a palpable unease as Vinicius endured his longest goal drought since joining Real Madrid.

Vinicius's silence has added to the pressure on Mbappe.

On the morning of December 4, Real Madrid won 3-0 against Athletic Bilbao in round 19 of La Liga with a double from Kylian Mbappe and the remaining goal by Eduardo Camavinga. Meanwhile, Mbappe's partner Vinicius was silent. In the last 10 matches, the Brazilian striker has not scored a single goal.

Since his double against Villarreal on October 4, Vinicius seems to have lost his killer touch in front of goal. The match against Bilbao was the clearest proof. Real played smoothly, creating a familiar attacking rhythm, but the number 7 missed two clear chances, including a shot that went just wide of the post and a one-on-one that was cleared by Unai Simon.

What confused everyone was that Vinicius was still playing well. The sprints and runs past defenders still appeared regularly. He dragged the defense, opened up space for his teammates, forced the opponent to always deploy a dense number of players on the left flank. But Vinicius did not score and only had 2 assists in more than two months.

The contrast is even more obvious when placed next to Mbappe. The French striker exploded with 30 goals and 7 assists after 24 matches. That difference in performance unintentionally made Vinicius the center of pressure, despite his contributions still being highly appreciated.

Rodrygo is even worse with a 31-game goalless streak. No striker in Real's history has gone that long without a goal. The Brazilian duo's decline has made Real too dependent on Mbappe. For a player who lives on inspiration, Vinicius needs a goal to turn things around immediately.

Source: https://znews.vn/bao-dong-do-cho-vinicius-post1608718.html