Vinicius Jr will get the respectful reception he deserves when he takes to the Anfield turf against Liverpool in the Champions League on Tuesday night.
In truth, Kopites have every reason to be sick of the sight of the Brazilian. In the past two years, they have faced the forward thrice. He has scored three goals, including the winner in last year’s Champions League final, and never suffered defeat against Jurgen Klopp’s side.
When the 22-year-old first moved to Real Madrid in 2018, he was a figure of fun as many doubted his finishing ability. In October 2020, Karim Benzema was even caught in the tunnel at half-time against Borussia Monchengladbach infamously telling team-mate Ferland Mendy: "Don’t give it to him, it’s like he’s playing for the other side".
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Yet six months later, he was scoring a brace against Liverpool to knock them out of the Champions League quarter-finals. And come May 2022, he was holding aloft the European Cup after scoring the winner against the Reds in Paris.
Last season Vinicius Jr scored 22 goals for Real Madrid as they clinched a La Liga and Champions League double. Benzema was the only player at the Bernabeu to score more.
In the space of a year, he went from a player often mocked by rival supporters to one repeatedly subjected to vitriol and bile. The treatment he now receives, having emerged as one of La Liga's most talented players, is abhorrent.
Some Atletico Madrid supporters chanted ‘Vinicius is a monkey’ as they entered the club’s stadium for a Madrid derby back at the start of the season, while a mannequin dressed in a Vinicius shirt was later hung from a bridge before another Real v Atletico game. Police have since identified six suspects who could be charged under hate crime laws.
There is a strange notion in some quarters that Vinicius is a ‘provocative’ player. His main crime in the eyes of those who question him? Namely the fact he celebrates by dancing.
Such abuse is not limited to just Madrid derbies, however. Agent Pedro Bravo would even say on a late night Spanish football show that if Vinicius wanted to dance a samba, he should return to Brazil. Bravo said: "He should be respectful instead of acting like a monkey."
Meanwhile, just on Saturday, as Real won 2-0 away at Osasuna in their final game before travelling to Liverpool, ‘Vinicius die’ chants were heard.
Of the abuse, goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois would say after the game: "Someone even shouted abuse at him during the minute’s silence. We can’t just look at his behaviour all the time, there were parents giving the finger sign in front of their children."
Vinicius would take to Twitter after beating Osasuna, posting: “The insults continue... but the dance too... See you in Liverpool! GO MADRID!”
You can’t not admire his mentality. In the face of the most disgusting treatment, he continues to stand tall. This season he has 16 goals and remains Madrid’s most dangerous player ahead of their trip to Anfield.
Yet he shouldn’t have to take it all on the chin. No wonder he is reportedly unhappy in Spain, exasperated by the lack of action taken by La Liga, who say it’s beyond their jurisdiction to close stadiums or dock points. Make no mistake, they are gutless cowards.
In his pre-match press conference ahead of facing Real Madrid, Jurgen Klopp was today asked about the abuse Vinicius continues to receive.
“Some people say that’s what happening, there is a factor that an aspect of his game is sometimes provocative that creates some reaction,” one journalist put to the German. “You have faced Vinicius Jr at Real Madrid. Have you ever noticed any provocative behaviour from him?”
Klopp’s response was exactly what you’d expect from the Liverpool manager, as he spoke out more than La Liga ever have.
“That he’s doing something on the pitch which could cause, what kind of things are happening to him? Racism?” he said in disbelief. “There is nothing in the world that could justify that, whatever he’s doing on the pitch. It would be nothing.
“Imagine I would say yes, this part of his game could cause it. That’s completely insane. No, nothing!
“He is a world class player. You should not leave him alone in 1v1 situations. That night, at a really young age, didn’t get phased at how the game went. They were not always dominant but he was there in the decisive moment.
“That makes him already a Real Madrid legend at a very young age. I hope he is not fussed by any idiots who say something about him.”
Liverpool will try their best to stop Vinicius on Tuesday night. For Trent Alexander-Arnold, this ‘rematch’ offers an opportunity for him to silence his own critics who have questioned his defensive abilities more and more ever since his role in the Brazilian’s Champions League final winner.
Yet the Reds’ right-back has thankfully suffered nothing like the man he will line up against.
Vinicius will get exactly the reception he deserves at Anfield from Kopites who would love nothing more than to see him suffer the most quiet of nights. A world class player who scored a winner in a Champions League final against them only nine months ago, he will be treated with the wary admiration such credentials deserve from supporters who long to see their own side get the better of him.
If he comes out on top again and dances at Anfield, so be it. Being treated with respect has nothing to do with his footballing ability. He is just a human being who deserves so much better than this disgusting attention that is clearly just wrong.
Not for the first time, Klopp has hit the nail on the head when speaking out on the biggest of matters, but it shouldn't need the Liverpool manager to reiterate what should be so obvious. He has nothing but respect for Vinicius. It’s time La Liga and Spain did the same.
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