Real Madrid are not ready to play without Vinicius Jr. when it comes to these kinds of matches. Xabi Alonso decided to drop the Brazilian star from the starting 11 of the Blancos’ opening match of the 2025-26 Champions League season, showing big confidence in the other players of the roster, starting with Franco Mastantuono and Rodrygo, as both started alongside French star Kylian Mbappe. Despite securing a 2-1 win through Mbappe’s brace, both from the penalty spot, Real Madrid showed they are still not fully prepared to face high-stakes matches without their Brazilian star, Vinicius Jr. As a matter of fact, after the opening goal of the match scored by American international Timothy Weah, the second and crucial penalty of the game came from an individual play of the Brazilian winger, who came off the bench in the second half and showed why he has to start.
Why didn’t he start?
After COVID, most of the soccer leagues around the world introduced the five-substitutions rule that allows managers to rotate their key players over the season. For example, while it can often be more important to analyze how a team finishes a match rather than how it starts, it definitely felt unusual not to see Vinicius Jr. in Real Madrid’s starting lineup against OM in the Champions League opener in Madrid. Vinicius Jr., alongside Mappe and possibly Rodrygo, are probably the most talented players of the current roster, who have been able to drive the team to success in the nearly the last decade since he joined the Spanish giants in the summer of 2018. Xabi Alonso, who is dealing, as all the top European managers, with a difficult schedule, needs to rotate even the best players of the roster, as he did with Vinicius Jr. on Tuesday, but Real Madrid are probably not ready yet to do that in such games.
How Real Madrid played without him?
Xabi Alonso lined up his Real Madrid side with a 4-3-3 which also became a 3-3-1-3 when the Spanish giants were attacking, as Arda Guler was shifting to a more attacking role and Alvaro Carreras shifting to a much more attacking role as right winger compared to Dani Carvajal on the other side of the defense, who replaced the injured Trent Alexander-Arnold. Mbappe led the attack as a central striker, with Rodrygo operating on the left side of the attack and Argentinian wonderkid Mastantuono playing on the right side, who also made his official debut in the top European tournament with Real Madrid.
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What has changed with him?
When Vinicius came in from the bench, Real Madrid could attack more with the ball and play him one vs. one on the left side of the attack. Vinicius played a total of 27 minutes, with 15 touches and two shots, but Real Madrid also had to face a challenging opponent such as the team coached by Roberto De Zerbi, who could defend well also when talented players like Mastantuono, Rodrygo and Vinicius tried to attack them individually. The Blancos recorded an xG of 3.65 in 90 minutes, showing they deserved to win after all, but the feeling is that when Vinicius was on the pitch, they could be much more dangerous than before, and as a matter of fact, they earned the second penalty when they were one man down as Dani Carvajal received a direct red card in the 72nd minute of the match. Compared to the past, Vini has different teammates right now and has to adapt as well. While, especially before Mbappe arrived, he could space in the attack with much more freedom under Carlo Ancelotti’s management, he’s now adapting to the tactical ideas of Xabi Alonso, who requires much responsibility and less freedom from the strikers. On top of it, there is also the competition of other strikers and attacking players such as Mastantuono and Arda Guler, who is playing much more than before under the Spanish manager.
What’s next?
Xabi Alonso will be forced to make rotations every game, as Real Madrid are required to be a title contender both domestically and in Europe and need all the players available at their best. However, Real Madrid right now have a really deep roster compared to the past years, and players such as Mastantuono and Guler are giving more options to the former Bayer Leverkusen coach. Real Madrid need Vinicius, and despite winning in their Champions League debut against OM, they probably showed they are not fully ready to play without him right now, but compared to the past years, there are many more talented and young players that can develop and improve to start a new cycle at the club where the expectations remains to win everything.
