It’s as if Barcelona were hustled for 70 minutes at the Santiago Bernabeu.
The threat was apparent throughout but through erratic take-ons, loose touches and poor decision-making, Vinicius Jr. lured them, albeit unintentionally, into a false sense of security.
So compelling was his performance as a menacing-looking but ultimately innocuous component of Real Madrid’s attack that the Blaugrana defenders failed to heed Toni Kroos’ elaborate warning just before El Clasico’s decisive moment.
The German playmaker, with all the subtlety in the world, gestured towards Vinicius, urging him to attack the prominent space in behind that Barca’s defence kindly afforded him, space he should’ve already spotted.
Once the ball was played, the Brazilian was away but even his decision to go for goal was questionable from that angle, especially with Dani Carvajal and Karim Benzema available for the cutback.
Vinicius though must be credited for being brave and taking Marc-Andre ter Stegen by surprise, even if a vital deflection off the sliding Gerard Pique helped the ball squeeze in at the near post.
But that’s perhaps the best feature of Vinicius in his current unadulterated state. He is inconsistent and often doesn’t make the right decisions but that unpredictable nature can work in his and Madrid’s favour.
One could even speculate that Zinedine Zidane was hoping the teenager’s X-factor would prove to be Barca’s undoing. Because what Vinicius does guarantee with his pace and skill is that he’ll find himself in fantastic positions over the course of most games and, very often, only one of those scenarios need to work out.
Fortunately for Los Blancos one did and effectively swept the mishaps of an erratic performance under the carpet, allowing the Bernabeu to abandon reservations about this prodigious talent and celebrate him instead without restraint.
The fact that Vinicius became the youngest-ever El Clasico goal-scorer in the 21st century at 19 years and 233 days, beating Lionel Messi’s record, only served to feed the narrative and dominate headlines.
1 - Vinícius Júnior (19 years and 233 days) has become the youngest player to score in #ElClásico in @LaLigaEN in the 21st century, breaking the record previously held by Lionel Messi in March 2007 (19y 259d). Explosion. pic.twitter.com/cUnEb3tmeR
— OptaJose (@OptaJose) March 1, 2020
With Cristiano Ronaldo watching on from the stands, Vinicius adopted the trademark celebration of the club’s greatest-ever goal-scorer.
It was a pale imitation in truth and one he didn’t entirely commit to, perhaps symbolic of how much further he must still go and how much harder he must still work to even come close to emulating the Portuguese superstar, whose position on the left wing he currently occupies.
Will he become the finished product or continue to excite and frustrate in equal measure? Can he dedicate himself to his craft or resign to basking in the glory of a few key moments? Will he develop into a world-beater or settle for little more than mediocrity?
No one can predict. But maybe that’s the point.
