Vinicius addresses future ahead of Real Madrid vs Atletico – ‘Here to continue making history’ | OneFootball

As Real Madrid gear up to face Atletico Madrid in the first leg of their UEFA Champions League Round of 16 tomorrow at the Santiago Bernabeu, Vinicius Jr. accompanied manager Carlo Ancelotti for the pre-match presser.

The Brazilian international, who captained the team in the recent cup game against Real Sociedad, has been linked with a move to Saudi Arabia for some time now.

On his future

Naturally, his future was one of the major topics of discussion during the press conference and Vinicius, once and for all set the record straight, stating that he wants to sign a new contract at Real Madrid and continue making history at the club.

“I am very calm because I have a contract until 2027 and hopefully I can renew it as soon as possible because I am happy here. All the people love me and want me very much. I couldn’t be in a better place than here,” he said.

On further being asked if fans can rest assured that he would not be tempted by lucrative offers, the winger replied:

“I’m here to continue making history, to pay for everything that the president and the club have given me.

“I hope I can continue to score more goals and play more games in this shirt. I have won, but I can win much more and I can enter the history of this club with so many great players who are legends.”

On the Ballon d’Or gala

Vinicius missed out on the 2024 Ballon d’Or despite being the heavy favourite to win it, after having bagged La Liga, UEFA Champions League and the Spanish Super Cup trophies with Real Madrid last season.

On being asked if he felt cheated by him being snubbed for the big prize, Vini replied:

“No, people vote what they think. I have my thoughts. I never dreamed of winning the Ballon d’Or, but when you are close you believe it, but I will have more chances. I’ve already won two European Cups and I’m here to win many more.”

Vinicius committed to staying at Real Madrid. (Photo by Fran Santiago/Getty Images)

Real Madrid decided to not show up at the Ballon d’Or gala after learning about Vinicius’ loss. When asked who made the decision not to attend the ceremony, he said:

“I do what the club tells me to do and the club asked me to stay in Madrid.”

On his season and Atletico clash

Having recently played his 300th game for Real Madrid, Vinicius insisted that he hopes to continue making history at the club and give fans a reason to celebrate by winning against Atletico tomorrow.

“I continue to experience incredible things with this shirt, fulfilling my dreams. We’ve started to play better since City. Hopefully the fans can be with us and we can give our best to play a great game for our fans,” he said.

Talking about his season so far and how he feels heading into the business end of the season, Vinicius remarked:

“I’m at my best right now. I had injuries. With so many games you can’t be 100% in all of them. Playing 80 games you can’t always be at your best. You’re not always in your head and you’re not always physically fit. A lot of players are playing with injuries.

“I think my season is going well. It’s normal that people demand more from me and want more from me. But now comes the decisive moment of the season and at Madrid we play better at this stage of the season.”

About the refereeing in Europe and whether he feels more comfortable with them than match officials in Spain, Vinicius noted:

“The referees in Europe defend the players who produce a spectacle more. We don’t like to talk about the referees, but of course it’s important for us that they referee well.”

Regarding tomorrow’s derby against Atletico Madrid, he said: “It will be a great game. A derby is a game you wait for all season. And even more so when it’s in the Champions League. I’m excited to be able to play a big game like this.

“Tomorrow it’s going to be a great party for our fans and in the second leg it’s going to be a great party for them.”

Touching on his behaviour on the field, which receives a lot of flak from opposition, Vinicius said:

“When the referees don’t give the card to others and when I protest for the first time and they give me a card. I do a lot of things I shouldn’t do, but in every game I’m getting better and calmer. So little by little I’m getting better.

“I’ve been here a long time, but people forget that I’m 24 years old and I still have a lot to learn and I’m going to keep learning until the end of my career.”

On the team’s improvement in defensive work in recent matches, he noted: “We always realise that we have to defend better, because if we don’t we won’t win.

“The coach talks to the front four to make us work. When the most important part of the season comes, we play better and we have to try to do our best for this team.”

Reflecting on the bad game that he and Real Madrid had this past weekend against Real Betis, Vinicius stated:

“The last game lacked a bit of everything. We started very well, but after 20 minutes we failed too much and did everything wrong.

“The best thing is that it happened in that game because tomorrow you can’t fail. If you fail you go home. We are here to improve and play a good game tomorrow.”

Source: AS