Vinicius Junior sends defiant message after Real Madrid star receives four-game ban

Vinicius Junior sends defiant message after Real Madrid star receives four-game ban Things only seem to be going from bad to worse for the Real Madrid forward Vinicius Junior. After a successful conclusion of his prolonged contract negotiations with the Merengue side last summer, it was expected that the Brazilian will return to his best form as his future is now significantly more certain. However, this has not turned out to be the case, as his performances so far this season have been quite underwhelming. He was again far from his best last night when Los Blancos faced AS Roma in their second Champions League game of the season. When he was subbed out in the 59 th minute, Real Madrid were trailing 3-1 on the scoreboard, with Vinicius being clearly at fault for the second goal scored by the hosts. Right before the game, the Brazilian also got to know his penalty for the hair-pulling incident in the game against Villarreal, as the competition committee announced that he will be suspended for the next four games . As MARCA has reported, the Real Madrid winger talked to the media after the match, and commented on the penalty and the timing of the announcement of this penalty: “I think the suspension has come at the wrong time. They had the whole day to announce it, and I only found out when I arrived at the stadium. The rule is new, and La Liga officials always come to explain new regulations to us, but they never explained this particular one. I have never committed an act of violence against another player. I get hit quite a lot, yet I am always the one who gets booked.” While angry about his substitution, the Brazilian recognized that this ended up helping his team: “It’s normal. I was angry after being substituted because I always want to be at my best and help the team. The substitutions changed the team. Endrick changed the dynamic and was the best player. Carlos only played a few minutes, but he scored.” The Merengue forward was also self-critical and assured that he will return to his best level: “I am angry with myself for not being at my best. In the end, Vini always comes back, and I have no doubt that I will return to my best.” Vinicius understood why the fans booed him: “The boos probably don’t help me, but people pay for their tickets. We play better when the fans are behind us. Jude plays better, Mbappé plays better, I play better… I think it’s easier for them to boo me because I’ve been here longer and I’m one of the captains.” The Brazilian again assured that he will return to his best level and highlighted his achievements so far with Los Blancos: “I will come back. When I arrived as a young player, many people laughed at me, but in the end, I’ve scored more than 100 goals for Real Madrid.” Finally, Vinicius complained about the clear unfairness with which the referees treat him: “The fans have every right to boo me because my job is to score goals against their teams. But I don’t understand the referees, because I saw a statistic saying that I’ve been fouled 500 times, resulting in five red cards and I don’t know how many yellow cards, yet the yellow cards are always shown to Vini. I don’t understand it. We need to protect players who do things differently, like Lamine at Barcelona or Julián at Atlético.” Vinicius Junior is clearly going through one of the most difficult phases of his career. Hopefully, this suspension will only prove to be a catalyst for him to get over his slump and return to his best level.