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Feature
- 3 hours ago
Vinicius Junior facing uncertain Real Madrid future after 'infuriating' Champions League display
Suraj Radia
- 8 Apr 2026 13:02 BST
- 4 min read
News
Vinicius Junior has come under fire after Real Madrid’s loss at home to Bayern Munich in the Champions League, with the winger described as ‘infuriating’ by a former Los Blancos star.
Vini failed to make an impact as Bayern ran out 2-1 winners in the quarter-final first leg and some corners of the Bernabeu grew frustrated with the Brazilian, particularly after he missed a one-on-one chance in the 60th minute with Real 2-0 down.
Current ETV
Vinícius Júnior
F (CL), M (L)
Real Madrid
Vinícius Júnior
F (CL), M (L)
Real Madrid
ETV Range
€89.1M - €108.9M
However, speaking after the game, former Madrid midfielder Rafael van der Vaart was more critical of Vinicius’ diving when receiving ‘the slightest touch’ and described the forward’s actions as ‘so sad.’
“It's awful. Watching him play infuriates me,” Van Der Vaart told Ziggo Sport. “I feel so sorry for him because he's a fantastic player.
“But every time he gets even the slightest touch, he throws himself to the ground hoping the opponent gets a red card, and then he gets up as if nothing happened. That's what I find so sad about him.
“Real Madrid is a club where you can play badly for an entire match, but the fans don't care. Because they know that, suddenly, out of nowhere, that surge of energy will come through and make the stadium come alive. It doesn't work that way at Bayern Munich.”
Vini Jr future in doubt after Bayern Munich showing
The performance will not have helped Vinicius Junior’s chances of earning a new contract at Real Madrid, with the club reportedly willing to cash in on their star man during the summer.
Vini Jr is entering the final year of his deal and, so far, negotiations over an extension have proven difficult due to the player’s salary demands, leading to him allegedly being offered to a number of European sides over a transfer.
Despite the speculation, Vinicius came out this week to insist that he wanted to remain in Madrid and that he was still optimistic of renewing his deal.
However, having scored in just two of his last nine appearances across all competitions, a failure to reverse the deficit against Bayern in the second leg next week could lead to Real opting instead to replace the 25-year-old instead of giving him a bumper new deal.
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