The answer came before kick-off. For the visit of Villarreal, Jos\u00e9 Mourinho named Kylian Mbapp\u00e9, recovered from his knee injury, in his starting eleven and left Vinicius Junior on the bench, hours after The Athletic published a long analysis of how the two stars fit together. The problem the piece describes sits in one channel: both players want the same one, on the left.<\/p>\n
According to The Athletic, relayed by RMC Sport and Foot Mercato, the two men have no personal problem away from the pitch. On it, their average positions are \u201cvirtually the same\u201d: Mbapp\u00e9 drifts left into Vinicius’s zone, the two regularly get in each other’s way and the box stays empty. A source close to the dressing room told the outlet that the pair compare themselves on everything, and that if one does not defend, neither does the other. A regular visitor to the training ground put it in the same terms: a football and ego problem, but mostly a football problem.<\/p>\n
The piece also touches on the Ballon d’Or, whose ceremony falls on 26 October: Vinicius is reported to have taken badly the club’s low-key campaign for Mbapp\u00e9, while Raul Asencio has called the Frenchman the best player among the nominees, in an interview with As.<\/p>\n
The diagnosis predates the Portuguese coach: the same mismatch existed last season under Xabi Alonso and then Alvaro Arbeloa, and Real go into this eighth matchday fourth in the table, five wins and two defeats, straight after the 2-1 derby loss to Atl\u00e9tico. One former member of the staff sees no halfway house: the problem will not be solved until either Vinicius or Kylian Mbapp\u00e9 leaves.<\/p>\n