Vinícius Júnior Says He Will Never Forget Match-Winning Goal in Clásico Win Over Barcelona
By Tom Gott
Real Madrid forward Vinícius Júnior has revealed scoring a crucial goal in Sunday's 2-0 win over Barcelona was the best moment of his career in Spain so far.
The 19-year-old bagged the opening goal of the game after 71 minutes, firing home from a tight angle before running to the corner to celebrate in the same vein as the onlooking Cristiano Ronaldo. After that, Real held on and even managed to add a late second through Mariano Díaz.
🇧🇷 𝐕 for 𝐕inicius
— LaLiga English (@LaLigaEN) March 1, 2020
🥇 𝐕 for 𝐕ictory #ElClasico pic.twitter.com/7I1j2FkA45
Speaking to Movistar+ (via Sport) after the game, the youngster confessed that he will never forget the feeling of being responsible for a Clásico victory.
"I play for the best team in the world and I always want the fans to be happy," he said. "I’m really happy with the work we’ve done this week. I’m like a kid, it’s a dream to score in El Clásico, I won’t forget this night.
“We have to keep going like this, work for ourselves and our fans. Thanks to the Bernabéu which was full to help us.”
Not every player in the world gets to score a crucial goal in perhaps the biggest club game in Europe, so it's safe to say that this moment will probably take some beating for Vinícius. Maybe he'll score a screamer in a Champions League final, or bag 1,000 goals next time out. Easy.
Manager Zinedine Zidane was full of praise for the young Brazilian, insisting (via AS) that nobody deserves to score such a goal more than him.
"Yes, he was great and I'm glad," the boss said. "He deserved it. It's an important goal against an important opponent. We are happy for him.
"I would have also liked Isco's shot to go in, but it was a good save from [Marc-André] ter Stegen. In the end it's a well deserved win. It's three points and we're happy with the game. We had to win."
Zidane's certainly not wrong there. Defeat would have seen Real fall five points behind Barcelona, but they have instead leapfrogged them into first place. That sounds like a good night's work to me.