Real Madrid scraped on Wednesday evening through their Copa del Rey quarter-final collision with Leganes, where youngster Gonzalo Garcia Torres handed them a 3-2 victory with a last-minute header. That was the head, but it was again an overwhelming version of Los Blancos, and the tension was tangible on the field.
That was most clearly between experienced Captain Luka Modric and Vinicius Junior, who had started on the couch and had arrived in the second half. While Los Blancos prepared to defend a corner, Modric was seen with his star forward.
Cadena Ser has reported that Modric pronounced his frustrations to Vinicius on several occasions at Butarque. The 39-year-old asked to come back Vinicius to defend the set piece and received no response from Vinicius. Modric then again had to raise his voice to Vinicius, and Fede Valverde also became involved to demand that Vinicius dropped his position, which he eventually did.
It is not surprising that Carlo Ancelotti was asked for the incident after the game and he was not aware of the details, but chose to support his captain.
“I don't know what happened, but if Modric says so, we have to respect it. “I always agree with him.”
Vinicius has had a rough start of the year and since an injury in November there is only once in the Spanish competition in his last eight performances, although he has also offered an assist.
In the meantime, this is a continuous issue for Ancelotti. On various occasions it was reported in the local media that he is not happy with the defensive dedication of his attacking stars, and he has also questioned it publicly on various occasions. Some reports suggest that he can even drop one of the stars -lined quartet of Vinicius, Kylian Mbappe, Jude Bellingham and Rodrygo for their next big game.
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