Think of Vinicius Junior in full flight.
Real Madrid raise the tempo of their play and find him in space on the left wing. As defenders attempt to close him down, he accelerates past them, then pauses before crossing or driving forward to shoot at goal.
We’ve seen that kind of thing so often from the Brazilian forward in recent years — and his assist for Arda Guler, below, is a prime example from September’s derby against Atletico Madrid.
But such moments from Vinicius Jr have been rare this season, and the passage of play above came in a 5-2 defeat for Madrid.
The 25-year-old appears to have gone off the boil, and has been jeered by fans at the Bernabeu on more than one occasion this season. During Thursday’s Supercopa de Espana semi-final, Atletico manager Diego Simeone played on this in an attempt to wind him up, appearing to say: “Florentino (Perez, Madrid president) is going to get rid of you.”
In the 2023-24 season, Vinicius Jr scored 21 goals and assisted nine times in La Liga and the Champions League as Madrid won both titles. The arrival of fellow superstar forward Kylian Mbappe slowed him down a little last time, but that 2024-25 campaign still brought 19 goals and 10 assists for him across those two competitions.
This term, under new head coach Xabi Alonso, Vinicius Jr has scored five goals and set up seven for team-mates in 25 appearances in La Liga and the Champions League. There have been fewer cheer-enticing moments and more frustrated booing — even in last weekend’s 5-1 win against Real Betis. He is on a run of 16 club games without a goal, since scoring twice in a 3-1 defeat of Villarreal on October 4.
Off the pitch, there are complications.
His contract runs out at the end of next season, and renewal talks have stalled. In October, days after storming off the pitch in a tantrum when he was substituted with 20 minutes to play against Barcelona in the most recent Clasico, he told club president Florentino Perez he did not feel it was in his best interests to extend that deal while his relationship with Alonso was strained.
And on the pitch, there is now a big question mark around how he fits into Madrid’s system. The Athletic explains why.
Since Alonso’s arrival as the new Madrid manager at the start of the summer, Vinicius Jr’s positioning has changed in comparison to the past two seasons.
Previous coach Carlo Ancelotti preferred his players to find solutions for themselves on the fly, rather than fit into rigid formations and adhere to defined individual roles.
In 2023-24, following the summer departure of Karim Benzema, Madrid frequently played without a recognised No 9, as midfielder Jude Bellingham started games as a false nine. Last season, while new signing Mbappe was the focal point in attack, he often drifted in from the left.
All of this meant Vinicius Jr had freedom to operate across the final third.
But under Alonso, his job has steadily become to hold the width on the left, with support in the half-spaces from full-back or midfield. The graphic below, showing the Brazilian’s pass reception zones, reflects this.
Alonso’s approach involves structured possession and territorial dominance. His version of Madrid are averaging 246.5 touches in the attacking third per 90 minutes in La Liga — their most in the past seven seasons. Their 180.4 touches per 90 in the defensive third is Madrid’s lowest in that same period.
Often, their setup involves positioning players in the shape seen below from the win over Betis, which is designed to create gaps in the opposition’s alignment and then exploit them with late runs. For this plan to work, Vinicius Jr has to operate out wide and pull a defender or two towards him.
The increase in the time he’s spent in the attacking third means his touches have risen to 63.2 per 90 (from 58.8 in 2023-24 and 58.5 last season). But only 6.97 per 90 have come in central areas of the pitch (vertically), down from 9.9 and 9.8 respectively in those same two campaigns, and this has had a major impact on his creativity and goalscoring.
Over 2023-24 and 2024-25, Vinicius Jr’s distribution from the left side half-spaces significantly improved. In the examples below, Rodrygo and Joselu (twice) make runs in behind for him to find, while Bellingham and Mbappe have also benefited from these passes.
Through balls became an asset for a player who had previously shown a lack of composure in these areas, and was thought to be more adept as a crosser.
Playing further out wide under Alonso has limited Vinicius Jr’s opportunities to play such passes, however.
Crosses like the one above for Guler against Atletico have become more common, but with opponents often packing the penalty area, and Madrid lacking a significant aerial threat, this has not been a fruitful creative avenue.
The chart below, comparing Vinicius Jr’s off-the-ball run types from last season and this one, using Skillcorner data, provides another lens through which to view the change in his role. He is now making more overlapping runs and fewer underlaps, while opportunities for coming short and generating quick pass-and-move sequences have decreased.
Vinicius Jr holding his width also means he is no longer in position to receive crosses inside the box or run in behind in central zones, like he did last season under Ancelotti. The effect on his shooting is apparent.
As shown in the maps below, he is taking on lower-quality efforts further away from goal than in previous years.
Vinicius Jr’s goalscoring took a leap between the 2021-22 and 2024-25 seasons as he hit 53 in the league across 124 appearances, after managing just six in 64 in 2019-20 and 2020-21 combined.
First-time finishes, often when meeting through balls in his stride, were a key contributor to that increase.
The goal below against Bayern Munich in the Champions League’s semi-finals in April 2024 is a great example, with Vinicius Jr dragging Kim Min-jae out of position before beating him in a foot race to score.
He also improved in attacking the space around the penalty area to sweep crosses and cutbacks home after Bellingham or Mbappe had dragged defenders out of position. In three of the past four completed La Liga seasons, he attempted 20 or more first-time shots. So far in this one, it’s six in his 19 games.
Another element behind Vinicius Jr’s previous goalscoring exploits was how he would capitalise on transition situations and was virtually unstoppable when running at defenders at pace on the counter-attack.
This goal, from Madrid’s 5-2 Champions League win against Borussia Dortmund in October 2024, is one of many examples of this.
He also developed an understanding of how and when to alter his runs in transition, as seen in the build-up to his goal against RB Leipzig in the Champions League’s round of 16 in March 2024.
Alonso’s preference for dominating territory means Madrid have tried to methodically break teams down, rather than be drawn into more open, end-to-end matches. When they do attack in transition, Mbappe has been the preferred outlet, with the France international accounting for six of their 17 shots from fast breaks in La Liga compared to Vinicius Jr’s three. They have both scored twice from those efforts.
Largely, though, Vinicius Jr has had to dribble past players to get into an optimal shooting position, often resulting in rushed or hacked efforts. He has never been a prolific finisher, but he converted 18 of his 45 Opta-defined big chances across the previous two league seasons. So far in the current one, he has taken just one of nine such opportunities and has cut a frustrated figure.
Alonso is asking more of him off the ball, too, with Madrid wanting to force high turnovers.
Vinicius Jr, who is often tasked with shadowing one of the opposition centre-backs, started the season well in this regard and even forced a mistake well up the pitch to create a goal for Mbappe in August’s 3-0 away win against Real Oviedo. But recent weeks have seen a drop in intensity from Madrid’s players across the board. Vinicius Jr has shown spurts of acceleration to close people down but is susceptible to lapses in concentration and a lack of consistency in effort.
That was clear to see on Thursday, with Vinicius Jr far too static as Atletico worked themselves into a position for Giuliano Simeone to put in a cross, which was headed home by Alexander Sorloth. Alonso’s side eventually hung on for a 2-1 win.
Though Vinicius Jr is undoubtedly still a player capable of producing jaw-dropping moments of sheer quality, there’s no getting away from the fact that his fit in Alonso’s current system at Madrid is awkward.
This season, Mbappe has taken over the goalscoring load for the Spanish giants, netting 29 times (and providing five assists) in 24 matches across all competitions. Rodrygo, after a middling run of form, has three goals and three assists in his past six matches and offers more out of possession. And in Bellingham, Guler, Brahim Diaz, Gonzalo Garcia and Franco Mastantuono, Alonso does have other attacking options.
Vinicius Jr has been the architect of many memorable nights for Madrid but to return to his rip-roaring best, he will need to adapt to a new role — one closer to the supporting cast.
