Real Madrid star Vinicius Junior has become used to the pantomime villain role when traveling away from home, but he had the last laugh at the Santiago Bernabeu on Wednesday night, as his side cruised to a 6-3 aggregate win over Manchester City. Vinicius had been the subject of a large banner before the match at the Etihad.
Referencing the popular Oasis song, a giant picture of Rodri Hernandez kissing the Ballon d’Or alongside the slogan ‘Stop crying your heart out’ was unveiled at the Etihad before kick-off last week. It referenced the widespread criticism Real Madrid faced after boycotting the Ballon d’Or awards gala upon finding out that Vinicius would not be winning the award.
Although the fans who organised the banner said that the tifo was more aimed at Real Madrid President Florentino Perez, who took the decision not to attend the event, Vinicius certainly took it personally. The Brazilian admitted after the first leg that he used the banner as extra motivation, and would end up grabbing two assists in the first leg, a 3-2 win that put Los Blancos on course to put City out.
Okay okay okay!!!!!!! 😭
— Vini Jr. (@vinijr) February 19, 2025
After the second leg, Vinicius tweeted out ‘Okay okay okay!!!!!!!’ accompanied by a crying face, which many took to be a reference to the tifo from the first leg. Vinicius will be pursuing a third Champions League in four years, having scored in two separate finals against Liverpool and Borussia Dortmund last year.
Manchester City fans in Madrid also appeared with a smaller banner at the Bernabeu of the same motif, but it was not seen by many, with a section of the traveling support exiting the game in the 64th minute following Kylian Mbappe’s hat-trick goal. Real Madrid will face one of Atletico Madrid or Bayer Leverkusen in the Round of 16.
