Vinícius, K.o. After Kroos's Amusing Comment in His Debut as Captain

Real Madrid Secured a Narrow Victory at Reale Arena. Carlo Ancelotti's players managed to withstand the dangerous attacking threats from Real Sociedad and capitalized on Endrick's great goal, scored during the first half. The pass to the final at La Cartuja will be decided in the second leg, to be played at Santiago Bernabéu Stadium.

One of the peculiarities of this match in Basque lands was Vinícius Jr. The verdeamarelo footballer, who joined the club in the summer of 2018, has always been seen as one of the team's leaders on the field. His quality justifies it, as in 2024 he was close to winning the Ballon d'Or.

However, until now he had been excluded from the captaincy debate. Not because he didn't deserve it, but because players like Lucas Vázquez, Luka Modric, or Fede Valverde also regularly shared the starting line-up with him under Carlo Ancelotti. Even Thibaut Courtois, a regular for the Reggiolo coach, has worn the armband in recent seasons.

None of those players were present on the Reale Arena field during the first 45 minutes: Lucas Vázquez came on at halftime to replace Raúl Asencio. The Canarian '35', who had a yellow card, was also playing out of position at right-back. To avoid further defensive issues, Carlo Ancelotti decided to bring on the Curtis footballer at halftime.

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It was then that Vinícius had to hand over the captain's armband to the Madridist '17', a distinction he had worn since the initial whistle. Because the Brazilian '7' was the player who had arrived at Santiago Bernabéu's locker room the earliest among all those lined up by Carlo Ancelotti... considering that the captaincy is still decided by those criteria of seniority and longevity in the first team.

This unusual image of Vinícius has sparked multiple comments. One of the sharpest, as is often the case, came from Toni Kroos. The former German '8', although retired for more than half a year, seems to be connected to the competitive current events of his last team.

Thus, he didn't miss the chance to comment on Vinícius as captain: "now you can talk to the referees", he noted on Instagram, the former midfielder. This comment, as amusing as it is sharp, has provoked much laughter even among the white fans. Because one of the drawbacks the São Gonçalo striker has is his complaints to the referees, which have cost him more than one upset in the past.

Be that as it may, the image seen at Reale Arena could become common very soon. Because Vinícius, upon the retirement of Lucas Vázquez and Luka Modric, would take up one of those captaincies... although it is true that behind players like Fede Valverde and Thibaut Courtois, who also joined the white team in the summer of 2018.