Coach Álvaro Arbeloa called Vinícius Júnior a “born leader” after the forward scored twice as Real Madrid won 2-0 at Espanyol to avoid handing Barcelona the LaLiga title.
Madrid went into Sunday’s game at the RCDE Stadium knowing that failure to take three points would confirm Barça as champions ahead of next weekend’s Clásico.
Vinícius scored two stunning second-half goals — assisted by Gonzalo García and Jude Bellingham — to leave the gap between the two sides at 11 points with four games left.
“He played another great game, and scored two great goals,” Arbeloa said in his post-match news conference. “He was the leader in attack, a total threat.”
Espanyol were almost reduced to 10 men in the first half when defender Omar El Hilali was sent off for a challenge on Vinícius, before referee Jesus Gil changed his mind following a VAR review.
“Every time [Vinícius] got the ball he was aggressive, intelligent, brave, and constant,” Arbeloa said. “It’s another game where he’s made a great effort, helping the team. He’s a fantastic player, a born leader. Everyone here loves him.”
Four of the five questions put to Arbeloa in the news conference were about Kylian Mbappé, who is currently injured, and has been pictured in the Spanish media on holiday in recent days.
“All of the planning for the injured players is supervised by Real Madrid medical staff,” Arbeloa said, when asked if Mbappé being away was an issue. “They control when the players have to be at Valdebebas. In their free time the players can do as they see fit.”
Arbeloa was also asked if he felt Vinícius was more committed to the team than Mbappé.
“I won’t make comparisons between players,” he said. “To win, we need the commitment of all the players. It hurts me when other teams run more than us.
“We need the commitment of all the players to press, defend and attack, if you want to be a complete team nowadays, talent alone isn’t enough.
“When the players understand what Real Madrid is, what made it great, the talent and the effort comes together and we’re the best team in the world.”
Arbeloa wouldn’t confirm whether Mbappé was in contention to return for next Sunday’s potential title-deciding Clásico at Camp Nou.
“We’ll see how he is this week,” Arbeloa said. “After the test last week we thought it might be a bit longer, but we’ll see how it goes.”
