Vanderlei Luxembrugo, former Brazil and Real Madrid coach, criticised Vinicius’ behaviour. The veteran coach emphasised the crack’s reactions on the pitch and stressed that he himself provokes part of what he suffers from rivals.

Vinicius Junior is a footballer who leaves no one indifferent. With the ball at his feet, the Brazilian is undoubtedly one of the best players in the world today. However, the star’s on-field behaviour continues to generate a great deal of debate.

The latest to join this debate is Vanderlei Luxemburgo. The former Brazil national team manager and Real Madrid coach in the early 2000s appeared on the podcast ‘Benja Me Mucho’ and spoke frankly about Real Madrid’s star, criticizing some of his attitudes.

“I think Vini provokes a lot of the persecution he suffers by doing things he shouldn’t,” Luxemburgo said, recalling an incident between the Brazilian and Joshua Kimmich in the recent Champions League semi-finals, where the German handed the ball to the ‘7’ and the latter dropped it to the ground while exchanging glances with the Bayern Munich player.

Speaking about the number of fouls Vinicius receives, the veteran coach compared his attitudes to those of other footballing greats in similar situations. “Vini gets a knock, gets up and attacks the opponent as if you can’t get a knock in football… Imagine Pele reacting like that with the amount of knocks he received. Or Zico. It’s the same with Vini, he gets annoyed about receiving knocks as if it were persecution linked to being black,” he added.

Finally, Luxemburgo spoke about the recent Ballon d’Or award. The prize went to Rodri when many people considered Vinicius to be the strong favourite. This caused a major backlash in Brazil, with many attributing the decision to racism. An idea that Luxemburgo does not share at all. “No, it has nothing to do with racism. Racism in football is dealt with in a very different way,” he concluded.