Rough diamond Vinicius needs to refine shooting in Clasico rematch
Real Madrid hope their teen Brazilian striker finds his scoring boots or Barcelona will be over the hill and out of sight in La Liga
Madrid — Real Madrid forward Vinicius Jr delivered one of the best performances of his young yet exhilarating career in Wednesday’s Copa del Rey semifinal second leg against Barcelona, thrilling the Santiago Bernabeu and toying with the opposition defence. There was just one problem: the Brazilian missed a slew of chances and so did his teammates as Barcelona somehow ran out 3-0 winners, reaching a sixth consecutive Copa del Rey final and sending Madrid crashing out. Spain’s biggest clubs meet again on Saturday in a La Liga game which could effectively bury Madrid’s chances of chasing down runaway leaders Barca, who hold a nine-point gap over third-placed Real. Atletico Madrid, who are second in the standings and seven points off the top, visit Real Sociedad on Sunday. If Santiago Solari’s side are to beat Barca for the first time in the league since 2016 and haul themselves back into contention, they will need 18-year-old Vinicius to improve on the one, crucial, area of his game th...
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