Real Madrid were decimated by Paris Saint-Germain in their Club World Cup semi-final showdown last week, with the European champions winning 4-0 in New York. It was a very low moment for Los Blancos, who had a relatively good tournament up until that point.
It was also Xabi Alonso’s first defeat still he took charge of Real Madrid at the start of June, and it will have evoked a desire for him to fix rights. And one of these could involve the dynamic with Kylian Mbappe and Vinicius Junior, whom many believe are incapable of playing together in Los Blancos’ ideal line-up.
Last week, the pair started as wingers on opposite sides of Gonzalo Garcia, with Mbappe on the left and Vinicius shoehorned out of position on the right. But as it turns out, he was not supposed to start against PSG, as revealed by Alberto Pereiro on Radio Estadio (via Sport).
It’s claimed that Vinicius was originally supposed to start on the bench against PSG, with Mbappe and Gonzalo partnered together in a two-man attack. But with the news that Trent Alexander-Arnold missed out due to an injury, it was decided by Alonso to move from a 3-5-2 to 4-3-3, which meant that the Brazilian was back in.
Alonso is still working out his best line-up
Although he was not dropped in the end, there is a chance that it could be a sign of things to come for Vinicius – especially since it has been reported that Mbappe is counted on more than him at Real Madrid. But despite this, Alonso’s desire will be to figure out a way that they can both start in the same line-up, and subsequently be able to play to their strengths.
It remains to be seen whether there is a solution for Alonso, who has until the start of August before Real Madrid begin a shortened pre-season schedule.
