This is Real Madrid's competition. It was when they won the first five times it was held. It was when they won three in five years in 1998, 2000 and 2002, and it was during the threepeat, and ultimately this ridiculous run that covered them beating the Champions for Paris (PSG), the Champions from England (Man City), the defending Champions in the competition (Chelsea) and a team everyone considers at worst the second best in the world (Liverpool). This was a gauntlet like few others, and they raced through it with dramatic aplomb.
We can talk about the incredible performance of Thibaut Courtouis, who was incredible in the final, and was stellar a half dozen times earlier as well. We can talk about Karim Benzema, who basically locked up the Ballon d'Or. We can talk about the everpesent Casemiro, Kroos and Modric, winning their fourth Champions League as a midfield trio. We can talk about Carlo Ancelotti becoming the first manager to win the tournament four times, beating a tie with two men, one of whom was the guy who lead them to triumphs number 9 (as a player) and 11-13 (as manager). We can talk about all of it - but I want to talk about Vinicius, Jr.
Vinicius, Jr., was a prodigy in Brazil, playing for 1st division Flamenco at 16 and 17, getting scooped up by Real Madrid for the 2nd highest transfer fee for someone coming out of Brazil (only after Neymar), agreeing to shift over to Madrid for the 2018-19 season. There was a ton of fanfare, a ton of expectations, that he would be a central component of the future of Real Madrid, joining the team the year that Zidane left the first time and Ronaldo left. And he squarely was not.
Over the next three seasons, he showed flashes. He showed his speed, he showed his dribbling competence, he showed some flair. He also couldn't finish to save his life. He played 69 games in his first two seasons across all competitions, and scored just 9 goals. It didn't get much better in his third season (last season), scoring six goals in 49 games.
It was rough. He was often criticized, whistled and decried by the crowds. It seemed to turn around where in the game right before the covid lockdown in 2020 he scored the winning goal in the Clasico, a nice goal that showed him finally finish calmly, stoically, and show a glimpse of the player he would become. That could ahve been a turning point late in his second season, but then Covid happened, and while crowd-less games ensured that he wouldn't be booed, it also ensured he wouldn't be praised. If anything, it allowed on-field microphones to capture Benzema telling a teammate not to pass to Vinicius, because of how ineffective he was.
Well, Benzema will pass to him now. Vinicius's 2021-22 season was one giant coming out party, taking the gains towards the end of the prior season and pulling his game forward. There was a lot of pressure - pressure to score goals when at times it seemed like only Benzema was. Pressure knowing that many in the Madrid ecosystem just assumed Mbappe would come and take his spot on the field. Pressure to live up to the expectations of a teenage phenom. And he turned that pressure into a season of 22 goals in 52 games - the 22nd being the one that gives Real Madrid another Champions League.
The goal itself in the final was fairly simple. Whether it was a pass or misguided shot, Fede Valverde put it right on Vinicius's feet with a gaping net. That said, the ball crossed at that speed, and knowing he didn't have time to setlle it, it was set-up to be the type of chance Vinicius flubbed time and time again in his first three seasons. This time he made no mistake.
This game was a coronation of the old guard, the long list of players who won their 5th Champions League. A coronation of the return of Ancelotti. But it was also one looking forward to the age of Vinicius - who turns just 22 in July - but behind that it was another remind of how great a coach Zidane was, the man sitting in a box trying to blend in.
Zidane never wavered in playing Vinicius - consistently starting him or at least bringing him on late for speed. He saw the potential, the speed on the flank, the nightmare he would cause for RBs, the game changing chess piece he can be. He saw that and leaned into it and kept trying and trying. We saw some development there over the course of the 2020-21 season, be it two goals against Liverpool in the Champions League in QF, to more consistent bright spots. He kept Vinicius focused and forward looking. Ancelotti took that and unlocked something special.
This is still a time of change in Real Madrid. Casemiro, Kroos and Modric appear ageless, but also they got run over far more often than before. It is not an accident that the amazing comeback against Man City happened with all three already subbed off. The future of Madrid is starting to come in, be it Vinicius's Brazilian running-mate Rodrygo, to Camavinga, to the soon to be annoucned Tchoumeni, to many other potential options. But Vinicius is agent zero of that effort, of that "project", to use the footballing parlance. He's a finished product, and one that earned his way there to becoming a Champions League legend.
