On February 15, 2022, Real Madrid visited Parc Des Princes to play Paris Saint Germain in the first leg of the UEFA Champions League round of 16, and Vinicius Junior could not help the Spanish team to emerge victorious.
Unlike Neymar Junior that was introduced into the game in the 73rd minute, Vinicius Junior started the game and played until in the 82nd minute before he was replaced by Eden Hazard.
Vinicius who is believed to be the hottest Brazilian forward currently in Europe could not perform any magic. It was 23-year-old Kylian Mbappe that scored the only goal of the match.
Later tonight, March 9, 2022, PSG will be in Madrid to take on Real Madrid in the second leg of the round of 16. The French side are going into the game with a home win advantage which will give them control of the second leg.
This means that all PSG needs to do is to draw or beat Real Madrid away from home to move to the next round of the tournament.
On the other hand, all Real Madrid needs to do is to beat PSG at least 2-0 to knock out the French giants from this season’s UEFA Champions League campaign.
The Spanish La Liga giants will depend on a player like Vinicius and Karim Benzema to make that happen.
Recall that Real Madrid paid a Brazilian club, Flamengo the sum of €45 million to acquire the services of the 21-year-old left-winger. During that period, Vinicius was just 17-year-old.
Then, most critics were wondering what Real Madrid saw in a 17-year-old footballer that made them pay a whopping €45 million for his services on July 12, 2018.
Unfortunately for the youngster, he found it difficult to prove that he was worth such an amount of money in his first two seasons at the club. He was criticized heavily for often missing goalscoring opportunities.
But the arrival of coach Carlo Ancelotti to the club in 2021 has helped the Brazilian star to rediscover a blistering form that has made him one of the most exciting footballers to watch this season.
Due to his form and Neymar’s comments that he might retire from international football after the 2022 FIFA World Cup, most football enthusiasts believe that Vinicius Junior is the next big thing in Brazil’s national team.
But the Brazilian youngster needs to use tonight’s UEFA Champions League round of 16-second leg match which will kick off at 21:00, to show the world that he has all it takes to be bigger than Neymar.
🇧🇷 Vinícius Júnior goals & assists 👌@vinijr | #UCL pic.twitter.com/TbtjEP6bMJ
— UEFA Champions League (@ChampionsLeague) March 7, 2022
Comparison between Vinicius Junior of Real Madrid and Neymar Junior of PSG
Vinicius Junior started his professional football career in May 2017, eight years after Neymar Junior has already established himself as a world football star.
Hence, during his rise in the game, Vinicius often refer to Neymar as one of the footballers he is looking up to.
The youngster joined Neymar in Brazil’s national team on September 11, 2019. Since then, Vinicius has played 11 games for Brazil’s senior team scoring no goal.
As for Neymar, the 30-year-old left-winger made his international debut on August 10, 2010. Since then, he has scored 70 goals in 116 appearances.
Despite scoring so many goals for Brazil, most of the country’s fans expect him to do more due to his potential as one of the most talented footballers on earth.
Currently, Neymar’s football career is being bedeviled by a series of injuries woes especially since he left FC Barcelona for PSG on August 3, 2017. Recall that PSG paid a world transfer record fee worth €222 million to acquire Neymar.
One of the reasons why PSG bought Neymar was to help the French club to win the UEFA Champions League title which is one of the major European titles the club is yet to win. But the investment is yet to pay off.
Things have gotten so bad for Neymar this season that he has managed to score just four goals and provide four assists in 18 games in all competitions.
As for Vinicius Junior, the left-winger has been able to score 16 goals and provide 12 assists in 36 games in all competitions which is the footballer’s best stats since he joined Real Madrid.
The best moment for him to prove that he is enjoying the best form of his life is tonight. Vinicius is condemned to bring on his A-game to help Real Madrid and coach Ancelotti to go beyond the round of 16 stage of the tournament.
Neymar and Vinicius’s salaries
Vinicius Junior is reportedly earning
€100,000-per-week at Real Madrid. While Neymar is earning €692,308 per week at PSG.
According to reports, Vinicius’s net worth is 36.4 Million Euro. While that of Neymar is 300 Million Euro.
Currently, Neymar’s transfer market value is €90 million. While that of Vinicius is €100 million.
