Carlo Ancelotti hails Vinicius Junior as 'the most decisive player in the world'

Real Madrid manager Carlo Ancelotti showered Vinicius Junior with praise following his performance in Tuesday night’s 5-2 win at Liverpool.

In a rematch of last year’s Champions League final, Los Blancos made the worst possible start to this last 16 first leg at Anfield. Darwin Nunez opened the scoring for the Reds early on, before Thibaut Courtois gifted a second goal to Mohamed Salah.

But then Real Madrid sprung into life. Vinicius pulled one back with a tremendous strike from range before scoring an almost identical goal to Salah’s when he caught Alisson cold. Eder Militao headed the visitors ahead just after the break, and Karim Benzema iced the game with a brace.

Speaking to the press post-match, Ancelotti spoke glowingly about his star Brazilian winger.

“Right now, I think he [Vinicius] is the most decisive player in the world,” Ancelotti said.

“Everything he does is a dribble away from a defender, an assist or a goal, and he does it for the full 90 minutes. He just never stops.”

Despite taking a clear three-goal advantage back to the Santiago Bernabeu, Ancelotti doubled down on his belief that the tie is not over just yet.

“For Real Madrid, and it has always been like this, the Champions League is the most important competition for the club, so that is felt in the preparation for these games,” he added.

“It is certainly not over yet, we have done well in the first part of the tie, but the second is still to be played and anything can happen.”