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The 24-year-old Brazilian was given the marching orders for pushing the back of Valencia goalie Stole Dimitrievski’s neck during the game between the sides on Friday. However, Real Madrid have appealed the decision to show Vinicius the straight red.
Carlo Ancelotti. (AP Photo)
Real Madrid head coach Carlo Ancelotti voiced that the club remains hopeful that star forward Vinicius Jr will avoid suspension after the capital city giants appealed his direct red card during Los Blancos’ 2-1 victory against Valencia in the La Liga last week.
The 24-year-old Brazilian was given the marching orders for pushing the back of Valencia goalie Stole Dimitrievski’s neck during the game between the sides on Friday.
However, Ancelotti remained confident that the 24-year-old will escape the minimum two-game suspension for his red card.
“It wasn’t a red, it was a yellow, and that’s why we hope he will not face any suspension,” the Italian said.
The 65-year-old manager also revealed that Vinicius is under a lot of stress due to instances of racism aimed at him over the past couple of years, but added that the Brazilian was focused on improving.
Ancelotti went on to add that Vinicius has apologised for his action against Valencia and looks to put the whole thing behind him.
“It’s difficult being in his shoes. It’s not easy to endure everything he goes through, including the insults. It’s not simple, but he’s trying to improve,” Ancelotti said.
“What happens in stadiums, I think he has improved his attitude a lot, he can keep improving but nobody is perfect,” continued Ancelotti.
“I think he’s done a lot of work on that, and he has improved so much that he is the best player in the world.”
“He’s upset about it and has apologised, we need to look ahead,” he added.
The Italian coach confirmed Vinicius is travelling to Cartagena for Monday’s Copa del Rey match against Deportiva Minera.
Ancelotti confirmed that Vinicius was part of the unit travelling to Cartagena for Madrid’s Copa del Rey match against Deportiva Minera on Monday.
“We hope he won’t face a suspension. The only two, who are not travelling, are Thibaut Courtois and Antonio Rudiger. The rest are all travelling,” he clarified.
The new regulations in the Copa del Rey stipulate that sides need to start at least seven players from their first-team squad and Ancelotti opined that he had no issues abiding by the rule.
“We have to respect it, and I have no problem with this rule. I want to give minutes to those who have played less,” Ancelotti added.
Ancelotti also addressed the side’s challenges from the penalty spot as Real have missed three of the last four spot kicks they have been awarded.
“It’s a technical aspect that’s very difficult to manage. There are good penalty takers, but what changes is the atmosphere in the stadiums,” the Italian added.
“I want to clarify the matter of penalty takers for us as well. I will clarify it before the match. It could be Vinicius, Kylian Mbappe, Jude Bellingham, Arda Guler. We’ll see how I feel,” he signed off.
