Vinicius Junior as a central striker?
Not so long ago, the prospect would have seemed far-fetched. When Real Madrid last won the Champions League in 2022, Vinicius Jr was the touchline-hugging left winger who dovetailed with Karim Benzema to devastating effect. Before that, he was the exciting teenager signed from Flamengo who had plenty of tricks but lacked cutting edge.
Things look very different now. Benzema’s surprise exit for Saudi Arabian side Al Ittihad last summer forced head coach Carlo Ancelotti into a change of system, pairing Vinicius Jr up top with fellow Brazilian Rodrygo in a hybrid 4-4-2 formation. Although he is far from an orthodox centre-forward, Vinicius Jr has scored 16 goals and provided eight assists in 27 games this season — only Jude Bellingham has better metrics at Madrid (20 goals and nine assists).
So what is the 23-year-old’s role this term, how different is it compared to the last campaign, and what has made him so effective in central positions?
Ancelotti’s new formation has not always looked a natural fit for Vinicius Jr. There were promising signs at the beginning of the season, but Bellingham was the player who benefitted most from the 4-4-2 diamond system used in the early weeks, helping himself to an impressive number of goals as he motored into spaces once occupied by Benzema.
Two hamstring injuries did not help his progress, but he has gradually taken on the scoring burden from Bellingham. The Englishman is now one of the two central midfielders who drop deep to help out the full-backs in defence, creating a ‘box’ midfield. It is a tweak Ancelotti introduced after the 3-1 La Liga defeat to Atletico Madrid in September when his side were overrun down the flanks.
Coaching staff sources — who, like all those cited in this article, asked to remain anonymous as they did not have permission to comment — say Madrid have not played in the diamond formation since their 3-0 win at Girona at the end of September. They say Vinicius Jr has continued to play wide but that he has less off-the-ball work to do now.
“Both with the diamond formation and the 4-4-2 (‘box’ formation) later on, Vinicius Jr has occupied more interior spaces than in previous seasons,” they said.
The emphasis on those central spaces can be seen in Vinicius Jr’s touch map from this season. His favoured left-hand side of attack is the area in which his touches have decreased most drastically this season — he has taken around four touches fewer there per game. The biggest increase has been in the penalty area.
That translates to his shot map, too. He is taking many more shots this season (3.4 per game compared to 2.5 last term), while his average shot distance has decreased. The average expected goals value of those shots has actually increased slightly from 0.14 to 0.16, suggesting the chances falling his way are of greater quality.
“All this new context also leads him to have more situations in the box where he has to finish with one touch,” coaching staff sources said. “We have always worked with him on finishing: from close range, from tight angles when he was a winger and, now that he is playing a bit more inside, other types of finishes.”
Voices close to Vinicius Jr say he did not dislike the diamond formation at the start of the season, but that it created difficulties for him. They say he felt “more alone” up front and found less space than on the wing. But they add: “The good thing about his more central starting position is that he was closer to the goal — and he is now, too.”
Vinicius Jr still plays as a winger at times, but Madrid’s coaching staff have looked to maximise his unpredictable movement.
In this example below from a Champions League game against Braga in November, he takes up a centre-forward’s position between midfielder Vitor Carvalho and centre-back Jose Fonte as the ball is played to Lucas Vazquez on the right-hand side of attack. The Brazilian creates space by darting away from them to receive Vazquez’s pass, takes two touches to get past Fonte, then dispatches a low, right-footed finish past goalkeeper Matheus.
Another effort against Valencia earlier this month had shades of Benzema.
With Madrid searching for an equaliser, the Brazilian is in line with No 9 Joselu as the ball comes out to Federico Valverde, but he loses his two markers as play is worked wide and rises to head home Brahim Diaz’s cross from point-blank range. This is one of four goals from inside the six-yard box scored by Vinicius Jr this season — double the figure he managed last year.
He made reference to his clever movement after scoring his fourth goal in three games against Celta Vigo last weekend.
“I’m trying to help as much as I can, changing my game,” he told Real Madrid TV. “I’m unstoppable because when I’m not playing well as a winger I go central and the opponents don’t know how to defend against me.”
That was seen in the second leg of Madrid’s Champions League last-16 tie against RB Leipzig at the Bernabeu this month. With Leipzig’s Castello Lukeba focused on the onrushing Bellingham, Vinicius Jr sprinted into the space left between him and his centre-back partner, Willi Orban, before guiding a fine finish past goalkeeper Peter Gulacsi for Madrid’s opener in the 1-1 draw.
And while there have been fewer touchline duels between Vinicius Jr and opposition full-backs, he is still using his pace to full effect. Just consider the first goal of his Supercopa de Espana hat-trick against Barcelona, when he burst clear of Ronald Araujo and a faulty offside trap to round Marc-Andre ter Stegen — in much the same way Cristiano Ronaldo did in an April 2012 Clasico.
However, whether this is a long-term position for Vinicius Jr remains to be seen. The expected arrival of Kylian Mbappe this summer could change everything: the Frenchman also prefers to play off the left, even if he has started in a central role for Paris Saint-Germain this season.
For now, it is helping to make Vinicius Jr even more unpredictable.
“We like him more when he has more freedom — not just on the outside but on the outside, inside and even on the right wing as against Celta,” coaching staff sources said.
“With that freedom and having so much talent and impact in so many different areas, he is unstoppable.”
(Top photo: Pablo Morano/MB Media/Getty Images)
