Vinícius Júnior of Real Madrid walked straight down the tunnel after being substituted in the Clásico.
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72 minutes into a Clásico victory and coasting to a 2-1 win, Real Madrid coach Xabi Alonso may be forgiven for thinking that everything was going smoothly for him in his first game against Barcelona as coach. That was until what appeared to be a routine substitution, replacing Brazilian international Vinícius Júnior with another, Rodrygo Goes, went awry.
Several days later, the team returned to training on Wednesday with the winger posting a public apology online after his expletive-ridden rant on the field was caught on camera and watched by thousands in the stadium.
In doing so, the 25 year old left out a key figure as he did not include the coach in his apology, despite the fact that his frustration was entirely vented in the direction of Xabi Alonso as he stormed off the pitch.
With speculation continuing regarding Vinícius and Xabi Alonso having fallen out, the team saw each other face-to-face for the first time on Wednesday and began preparations for this weekend’s fixture against Valencia at the Estadio Santiago Bernabéu.
Vinícius Júnior’s apology
In a post on social media on Wednesday, Vinícius stated, “today I want to apologize to all Real Madrid fans for my reaction when I was substituted in El Clásico”. He added that, “as I have already done in person during today’s training session, I also want to apologize again to my teammates, the club, and the president”.
“Sometimes my passion gets the better of me because I always want to win and help my team,” he continued. “My competitive nature stems from the love I feel for this club and everything it represents. I promise to continue fighting every second for the good of Real Madrid, as I have done since day one.”
It came amid increasing pressure on the player to reduce tensions after it led to speculation surrounding his future after the very public fall-out.
What happened at the Clásico between Vinícius Júnior and Xabi Alonso?
The moment of tension which surged came on the field of the Bernabéu as the game edged towards the end of the Clásico on Sunday.
“Me? Me? Coach, coach!” was Vinícius’ initial reaction, before shouting “f*** off” as he slowly begun to trudge off the field. Once on the sidelines, he did not make any attempt to speak to the coach, shouting “I’m leaving the team… I’m leaving, I’d better leave,” before storming down the tunnel.
Video cameras caught Alonso’s reaction as the forward threw his arms up in the air on the field of play, muttering, “come on Vini, damn it,” to himself in frustration with a very stern face despite his team leading on the scoreboard.
Alonso then sent long-serving goalkeeper coach Luis Llopis after the Brazilian to bring him back to the touchline to watch the remaining 20 minutes of the game, before eventually ending up being involved in clashes between players on both teams after the final whistle.
“There are different personalities within the squad, but for now we’ll enjoy the result and, when the time comes, we’ll talk about it in the locker room,” Alonso said when asked about how he would address the situation in his post-game press conference.
