The winger will head to Copa America as the Golden Ball frontrunner after helping secure a 15th European Cup for Los Blancos
Vinicius Jr has done it again. In a Champions League final where his team elected not to show up for nearly 75 minutes, the Brazilian made his mark in yet another European Cup win, scoring the second goal and asserting himself as the world's best with another memorable big-game performance against Borussia Dortmund on Saturday.
Madrid were off their usual levels for long stretches at Wembley, but they turned it on late, the elder statesman Dani Carvajal providing the first, before the youthful Vinicius scored the second to wrap up a 2-0 win – and their 15th European Cup.
Dortmund had the better of the chances for long stretches, coming close twice across five minutes – with Niclas Fullkrug's poked effort bouncing back into play off the post. They had further opportunities in the first half, as Thibaut Courtois denied a speculative effort from Marcel Sabitzer to ensure parity at the break.
Los Blancos stayed in it, though, and with every Dortmund missed half chance, it felt like the inevitable was coming. All the signs of Madrid getting back in it were there, as Dortmund played a few lazy passes and the ball started to bounce Madrid's way.
They needed one corner to change the game for good. Toni Kroos whipped it in, and Carvajal – the shortest player in the box – weaved through a crowd of bodies to head home in the 74th minute. It all felt routine from then on as Madrid controlled the game, and an Ian Maatsen giveaway in his own half handed Los Blancos the win, Jude Bellingham picking up the scraps before feeding Vinicius, who kept his cool to finish from inside the box.
It was the Brazilian's second goal in a Champions League final and 24th in all competitions for the season. Once maligned for his penchant for missing when it mattered, Vinicius has become the ultimate clutch player, the man Madrid can rely on for a big goal. On Saturday, he delivered once again. A Ballon d'Or might just be on the way now, too.
GOAL breaks down the winners & losers from Wembley…
Getty ImagesWINNER: Dani Carvajal
Exactly who everyone had down as the hero in the Champions League final, right? Carvajal has enjoyed his best season for Los Blancos in years, looking a player reborn at 32. And he grabbed the goal he very much deserved against Dortmund, the tiny right-back rising above everyone to nod home at the near post. It was his sixth goal of the season, but first in Europe since 2015.
He wasn't bad at the other end, either, turning in a scrappy showing at full-back against the pacey Karim Adeyemi. He fought in 50/50s, and proved to be a valuable cool head late on when Dortmund scrambled for an equalising goal.
Madrid, in truth, didn't have too many virtuosic performances here, such was the general disappointment of their showing. Instead, they relied on moments, and Carvajal provided the biggest one of all.
AdvertisementGetty ImagesLOSER: Karim Adeyemi
Adeyemi wouldn’t have believed his luck when he managed to stroll straight through the Madrid defence and meet Mats Hummels laser-focused through-ball midway into the first half. Chances this inviting normally don’t come around in Champions League finals.
However, with just Courtois to beat, the 22-year-old got it all wrong. The stepovers were nice. His second touch wasn’t. Not only did Adeyemi go the wrong way, darting off to Courtois’ right, his contact was heavy, too. He summoned every fibre of his being when attempting to correct his error, but it wasn’t enough. Carvajal recovered and the opportunity was gone.
This wasn’t the only opening afforded to Adeyemi on the night, but spurning that one-on-one will haunt his dreams for some time. He does deserve credit for getting the better of Carvajal on more than one occasion and for providing a couple of chances for his team-mates, though that will have been scant consolation when he was first forced to watch the Madrid right-back score a goal of his own from the substitutes' bench and then witness Los Blancos lift the famous trophy.
Getty ImagesWINNER: Vinicius Jr's Ballon d'Or Case
How many of this Madrid team will feel they have a really shot at football's top individual prize, the Ballon d'Or? Bellingham looked a fair bet after four months of the season, such was his rapid start in Madrid white. But in recent months, Vinicius has forced his way into the reckoning, and is now the front-runner heading into the summer tournaments.
In truth, he didn't have his best game here, given a tough go of things by Hummels and Julian Ryerson. Still, the Brazilian was clinical when it mattered, burying the crucial second goal to wrap up the final. The Brazilian has now scored in his side's last two Champions League final wins; you'd expect that the 23-year-old might grab a few more on the biggest stage.
And more broadly, it's those moments that could make him the Ballon d'Or winner. He has now bettered his previous best mark of goals in a season, becoming so much more than a constant nuisance for opposing defenders. He is now, undisputedly, world-class, and deserves the kind of acknowledgment befitting of that status.
Getty ImagesLOSER: Marco Reus
Marco Reus must f*cking hate Wembley. Eleven years ago, it was under the iconic arch that Jurgen Klopp’s Borussia Dortmund – a side containing Reus and Hummels – were vanquished by Bayern Munich in the Champions League final. Flash-forward to the present and he was left misty eyed in northwest London once again.
The manner of this defeat felt particularly cruel to the player fittingly dubbed the unluckiest man in football. When Reus was introduced 20 minutes from time, Dortmund were firmly in control of proceedings, with Madrid scarcely able to muster a shot on goal. However, like the evil geniuses they are, Los Blancos seemingly decided to go for the kill as soon as he came on. That his side collapsed immediately after his arrival off the bench was clearly not Reus’ fault, but that did not make the reality any less heart-breaking for anyone rooting for a happy ending.
Then again, perhaps this is the most fitting way for the German to bow out of his boyhood club. Dortmund are so often the bridesmaids and not the brides in both domestic and continental matters. No player can claim to match this vibe more closely than the long-suffering Reus. He departs as club legend, but without much silverware to boast about.