Kroos defends Vinícius Jr’s fiery El Clásico reaction

Abdullateef Fowewe

In the aftermath of Real Madrid’s intense 2-1 victory over Barcelona, former Real Madrid midfielder, Toni Kroos came to the defense of Vinícius Júnior following the Brazilian’s passionate reaction to being substituted in the 72nd minute.

Kroos, speaking from deep personal experience on Tuesday, underscored the raw emotions at play in such a high-stakes match.

Kroos said of Vinícius’s reaction, “When you play an exceptional game, especially in a game like this, you are not happy. I never liked being replaced either. But to be fair, I’ve never gone straight to the locker room afterwards, but well, he came back.”

In Kroos’s view, judging Vinícius from the outside misses the full context of the moment: “You can always judge from the outside, but I like to keep in mind that, in reality, no one, except those who are there, in a Clasico in front of 80,000 people with the score 2-1, knows that one wants everything but to be subbed out. That emotion, no one who judges, can imagine it. Or often. Most of those who judge it simply can’t put themselves in Vini’s place.”

Kroos also reflected on the learning curve after the heat of the moment fades stressing, “Sober and with a bit of distance, he’ll probably think to himself: Okay, I can keep my anger to myself a bit longer. I can even understand the anger, but you can see from the pictures that it doesn’t come across as ideal. However, I would still like to point out that it’s an exceptional emotional situation when you’re down there in a game like that. I’ve experienced that many times, so you don’t always have to take everything so seriously. Coaches don’t usually do that either. Especially coaches who were players themselves.”

This defense comes amid reports that Vinícius’s relationship with coach Xabi Alonso is strained but still open for dialogue, reinforcing Kroos’s message that such moments of frustration are part of the game’s high-pressure nature.