Vinícius wins over fans with 3 assists and a goal in Real Madrid’s 6-1 rout of Monaco

MADRID (AP) — With three assists and a goal, Vinícius Júnior quieted the fans who had booed him again at the start of Real Madrid’s 6-1 rout over Monaco in the Champions League on Tuesday.

Part of Santiago Bernabeu Stadium crowd jeered the Brazil forward nearly every time he touched the ball early on in the league-phase game in Madrid, but the boos dissipated as the match went on and were virtually gone by the time Vinícius scored his first Champions League goal of the season in the 63rd minute.

The early boos were not nearly as loud as they were Saturday in Madrid’s 2-0 win over Levante in the Spanish league. Both times fans jeered when Vinícius’ name was announced in the starting lineup, but this time the game ended with fans on Vinícius’ side as he was chosen the man of the match.

Vinícius has been having a lackluster season and some fans viewed him as one of the reasons why coach Xabi Alonso was replaced last week.

Vinícius had spats with Alonso, a former Madrid and Spain great as a player who was replaced as a coach following a tumultuous eight-month stint. Vinícius was reportedly the main player not backing Alonso in the locker room.

Vinícius scored his goal on Tuesday with a well-placed strike after getting past a couple of defenders and hitting the upper corner. He did not go toward the fans to celebrate, and instead hugged his teammates near midfield and then ran toward the sideline to salute and hug new Madrid coach Álvaro Arbeloa.

“More than hugging me, he was hugging the Madrid fans,” Arbeloa said. “We are all very happy with this reconciliation between Vini and the fans. It’s what we wanted. He needs the Bernabeu and the Bernabeu enjoyed Vini and will keep enjoying him.”

Vinícius has assists in goals by Kylian Mbappé in the 26th and Franco Mastantuono in the 51st. The Brazilian also assisted with a cross that led to an own-goal by Monaco defender Thilo Kehrer in the 55th.

“Vini, we are behind you,” read a banner held by a fan at the Bernabeu.

Mbappé scored in the fifth minute to put the hosts ahead. He hugged Vinícius after his second goal later in the first half — and again following the final whistle.

Mbappé and Arbeloa had come out defending Vinícius recently, with Mbappé saying the crowd shouldn’t single out Vinícius as the one to blame for the team’s struggles.

Many fans applauded a seventh-minute attempt by Vinícius, who just missed wide from inside the area. When he misplayed a ball in the 40th, some of the fans started to boo again but many more applauded in response.

There were no immediate jeers toward club president Florentino Pérez like it had happened against Levante.

Mbappé appeared to apologize to Monaco fans after scoring. He was a former Monaco player. Mbappé has 18 Champions League goals for Madrid, the most of any player in the first 20 appearances with the club, ahead of the 14 of Cristiano Ronaldo.

Jude Bellingham, who was also jeered by some fans on Saturday, scored Madrid’s sixth goal in the 80th. The England player celebrated by making signs with his hands as if he was drinking. Spanish media reports had said during the week that some Madrid fans complained that Bellingham was spending too much time partying amid the team’s struggles.

Vinícius came close to scoring again on a breakaway in second-half stoppage time.

Madrid had entered the match against Levante coming off a two-game losing streak that included a loss to Barcelona in the final of the Spanish Super Cup in Saudi Arabia — which prompted Alonso’s departure — and an embarrassing elimination against Albacete in the round of 16 of the Copa del Rey.

There was a moment of silence before the match in honor of the victims of the train crash that killed more than 40 people in southern Spain on Sunday.

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