Vinicius Jr appears to have responded to a banner Manchester City fans displayed that mocked him after Real Madrid knocked them out of the Champions League with a 6-3 aggregate win
City fans took a dig at Vinicius ahead of the first leg at the Etihad last week, displaying a banner which mocked the winger after he missed out on the 2024 Ballon d’Or to Rodri. Madrid ended up boycotting the entire ceremony as a result and City fans displayed an image of Rodri kissing the trophy along with the words “Stop Crying Your Heart Out”.
However, Vinicius has ultimately had the last laugh, with Los Blancos knocking City out of Europe after beating them 6-3 on aggregate in the play-offs. Vinicius laid on two assists in the first leg and appears to have now responded to the banner on social media, simply writing: “Okay okay okay!!!!!!!” along with a crying emoji.
Kylian Mbappe, though, was the star of the show as he scored a hat-trick in the second leg and Madrid boss Carlo Ancelotti believes the forward can enjoy the same levels of success that Cristiano Ronaldo did at the club.
Kylian Mbappe destroys Man City as Real Madrid cruise to Champions League last-16 – 5 talking points
“He has the quality to reach the level of Cristiano,” Ancelotti said. “He has to work. Cristiano set the bar very high. He’s started his career at this club now. I think with his quality, and the excitement he has about playing here, he can reach Cristiano’s level, but it won’t be easy. He’ll have to work at it.”
And Mbappe has said he hopes to “define an era” at Madrid, having joined the club on a free transfer from Paris Saint-Germain last summer. “I didn’t want to come here to play badly,” Mbappe said after the game.
“Fulfilling my dream was one thing, but I wanted to play well, I wanted to define an era, to make history at Real Madrid. I had to play with personality. The most important thing is winning trophies.
Vinicius Jr appears to have hit back at the City fans after Real Madrid knocked them out of the Champions League
“I’ve scored a lot of goals in my career, but let’s see if it’s all for nothing, because we didn’t always win trophies. If I score a lot of goals and win trophies, I’ll sign for that in blood.”
They are now set to play either Atletico Madrid or Bayer Leverkusen in the last-16 and Mbappe has revealed he hopes they get drawn against their local rivals. “Honestly, I would rather we are drawn against Atleti,” he admitted.
“They and Bayer are two great clubs and it would be difficult either way. But in the next round, it would be much better for us if we don’t have to travel – we travel so much!”