Ancelotti praise Vinicius Junior after ‘regrettable’ effigy incident
Real Madrid manager Carlo Ancelotti praised Vinicius Junior's performance against Atletico Madrid after he suffered abuse prior to the game.
Before Thursday’s derby in the Copa Del Ray, an effigy wearing Vinicius Jr’s shirt was hung by its neck from a bridge, alongside a banner in the red and white colours of Atletico that read: “Madrid hates Real”.
managed to beat Atletico 3-1 in extra-time to reach the Copa Del Ray semi-finals. Rodrygo,
Benzema, and
Viniciusall scored for Ancelotti’s team.
After the game, Ancelotti praised the Brazilian forward and insisted he was fully focused on the game.
"Vinicius has always wanted to play and was very focused on the game,"
he said.
“He was very excited, eager to return to his fans. He played a very good game, fighting until the end. The goal was the reward for the great work he did.
"He played a great game. What happened elsewhere today has been very regrettable.”
Real Madrid star Karim Benzema admitted that it was a difficult game and also said they should score sooner in the games.
"It was a very difficult and complicated game,"
the reigning winner of the Ballon d'Or said.
"But with the players and talent we have, we knew we could make a comeback of it.
"Perhaps we need to score goals sooner, because we don't like to suffer. Atletico positioned themselves well, got in behind, and that cost us. Rodrygo's response was a great goal."
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