Sunday's Supercopa de Espana final between Real Madrid and Barcelona will forever be remembered as the Vinicius Jr. show!
The Brazilian sensation delivered a remarkable performance in Riyad, guiding Los Blancos to a commanding 4-1 victory over their bitter rivals, with the Selecao sensation making history by scoring a first-half hat-trick.
The 23-year-old broke the deadlock after only seven minutes after being set through on goal via a brilliant Jude Bellingham pass. Three minutes later, Vinicius Jr. and Rodrygo combined in a lethal counterattack to double Real Madrid's later, with the latter assisting the earlier.
The Brazilian winger completed his hat-trick in the 39th minute, scoring from the spot and setting three lovely milestones along the way. First of all, he became the first Brazilian player to score a hat-trick for Real Madrid in El Clasico, a feat Ronaldo Nazário was unable to achieve — as well as Portuguese icon Cristiano Ronaldo.
Vinícius Júnior is the first Brazilian to score a hat-trick against Barcelona for Real Madrid and the first player to score a Clásico hat-trick in the Supercopa de España.
— Squawka (@Squawka) January 14, 2024
It only took 39 minutes. pic.twitter.com/ZBkKgtTP9I
Additionally, he became the first player to score a hat-trick in a Clasico Supercopa de España final. Furthermore, his three-goal haul was also the fastest by a Real Madrid player in a Clasico since 1951.
And if that was not enough, the Brazilian attacker also managed to rile up Barcelona after tearing them apart on the pitch. A clip has gone viral on social media which appears to show Vinicius Jr. taunting the Blaugrana bench.
This occurred during a break in play following Ronald Araujo's sending-off, with Vinicius Jr. holding up four fingers at the Blaugrana bench to remind them of the score line. Check out this incident in the clip below.
Vinicius Junior signals "4-1" to the Barcelona bench
— Football on TNT Sports (@footballontnt) January 14, 2024
@iiABTA pic.twitter.com/3FNfEpGdOw
The player was asked about this incident during his post-match interview and showed tremendous self-reflection with his response, admitting to making mistakes and needing to learn and mature as a player.
"Everyone wants to fight me," the Brazilian said, as per COPE journalist Arancha Rodriguez. "I try my best to stay focused. I am not a saint. Sometimes I talk too much, sometimes I do dribbles that I don't have to do and I want to learn. I'm here for that, to learn."
Unfortunately for Vinicius Jr. and his teammates, they will have little time to celebrate Sunday's title win. Not only will Los Blancos return to action this midweek, but the Spanish giants will also be in for a tough fixture, visiting city rivals Atletico Madrid in the Copa del Rey round of 16.