Vinícius has taken to Twitter to clarify a quote about Lionel Messi that has sparked controversy.
Teenage wonder kid Vinicius is preparing to play in his second El Clasico for Real Madrid after joining Flamengo last year.
Real host Barcelona at the Bernabeu in the Copa del Rey on Wednesday night, with a La Liga match-up between the rivals coming up on Saturday.
And Brazilian Vinicius raised eyebrows after he claimed Barca superstar Messi ‘didn’t scare Real’ because “we are ready for all tests.”
The Brazilian winger was quoted by Esporte Interativo as saying:
“Messi is always like that. He has an incredible level, but he doesn’t scare anyone. We are ready and we have the best players in the world.”
The player himself took to Twitter to offer his version of what he said, which is: “Messi is amazing, he does things that few players are able to do, but he doesn’t scare us. We’re ready for anything that comes. We have the best players in the world as well.”
This version softens the phrase from “he doesn’t scare anyone” to “he doesn’t scare us.”
Vinicius and his team-mates will face Barcelona full of confidence, motivated by the chance to make history for the club by reaching the Copa del Rey final with a win over their greatest rival.
With a win or a 0-0 draw, Real Madrid will go through. Barcelona need to win or draw the match having scored at least two goals. Another 1-1 draw would lead to extra time and penalties.
Diario AS says Barcelona have developed an “anti-Vinícius” plan to stop the Brazilian, who has become a sensation for Madrid. Meanwhile, all eyes are on Messi, who had a superhuman performance over the weekend in Barcelona’s 4-2 comeback win over Sevilla.