Xabi Alonso responds to Vinicius Junior benching questions – ‘For me there are many important players’ | OneFootball

Real Madrid manager Xabi Alonso has made it clear that Vinicius Junior will not be afforded any special treatment as a result of his star status. The Brazilian started from the bench on Tuesday evening against Olympique Marseille, making it twice he has been left out by Alonso in just five games this season.

It was also just the second time Vinicius had not started a home Champions League game for Los Blancos since 2019, symbolic of the magnitude of the change. Alonso’s choices certainly seem to imply that Vinicius no longer enjoys the same importance in his eyes as he did under Carlo Ancelotti.

‘For me, there are many important players’ – Alonso

Naturally, Vinicius was one of the main talking points in Alonso’s pre-match press conference on Friday ahead of their clash with Espanyol. Alonso was asked how Vinicius was doing.

“I saw him yesterday and it wasn’t the time to talk, as I said. You have to have a bit of that intuition, and we talked a little today. But we’re only five league games into the season. There’s still a long way to go; this is a marathon until May. We have to take it step by step,” he told Marca.

He was also asked how he intended to get the best out of Vinicius.

“Vinicius looks good to me. Yesterday wasn’t the time to talk to him, but today he seemed more positive and more smiling. I spoke with him, not much, we did some individual exercises. We’ll see tomorrow.”

Image via Juan Manuel Serrano Arce/Getty Images

It was also suggested that the loss of status may be having a negative impact on Vinicius.

“For me, there are many important players in this squad. In terms of level, experience, track record, and what they’ll give us. Vinicius is one of them, Jude, Fede, Aurelien, Dean, Arda… I’m not going to get into those labels we want to put on them right now. I value everyone a lot and I want the whole team to feel important. Everyone is in this boat, and we need everyone to pull in the same direction.”

‘His impact has been very good’ – Alonso on Rodrygo

Of course those benchings for Vinicius have allowed Rodrygo Goes to come into the fold from the cold. Alonso remarked that he was happy with his performances.

“His quality, his ability to move forward, his ability to link up [is what he gives us]… but Vini has that too. Both from the start and coming off the bench, his impact has been very good.”

Rodrygo gave an interview earlier in the week noting that he had ‘been through a very difficult time’, and thanked Alonso’s predecessor Carlo Ancelotti for his help during it. Certainly with the two competing for the same spot for fist time in several years, it will be an intense battle.