Vinicius Junior frustration was aimed at Real Madrid teammate not Xabi Alonso | OneFootball

Real Madrid are dealing with the fallout of a heavy defeat in the Madrid derby to rivals Atletico Madrid, and one of the effects is an increased spotlight shining on any signs of malcontent.

That was in full force with respect to Fede Valverde, who is starring in this week’s telenovela. The Uruguayan seemed less than engaged when sent out to warm up during their 5-0 win over Kairat Almaty, and ended up making a statement denying that he was anything less than 100% committed to the cause.

Vinicius Junior frustrated as he comes off

However Vinicius Junior also looked less than content as he came off with 20 minutes to go against Kairat. The Brazilian was seen gesturing and complaining as he left the pitch, seemingly in the direction of manager Xabi Alonso. This of course comes in the context of the Basque manager leaving Vinicius on the bench far more often than usual.

Motive for Vinicius’ frustration revealed

The reason behind his frustration was the decisions of his teammates though, say Diario AS. They say that the Brazilian felt he was being ignored too often in good positions at times. Arda Guler decided to pick out a ball in behind for Kylian Mbappe early in the second half, rather than using Vinicius out wide.

Image via Jesus Alvarez Orihuela / Diario AS

Just before he was taken off, Franco Mastantuono decided to shoot rather than feeding Vinicius, which further irked him. That was ultimately the cause of his irritation.

Xabi Alonso’s strong reaction

After the game, Alonso did his best to shut down any controversy early on.

“It wasn’t anger. Another day… but not today. It’s always the coach’s fault. Vini’s wasn’t a complaint. There was a comment that we understood.”

While Vinicius’ reaction to no longer being the fulcrum of the attack has been closely examined, it seems in this instance, it was simply natural frustration as part of the game.