Real Madrid head coach Carlo Ancelotti has on Wednesday night tipped a leading member of his squad to lift the next Ballon d’Or.
The player in question? Vinícius Jr.
Wide-man Vinícius, for his part, is of course fresh off another scintillating display on the grandest stage.
With his side looking altogether bereft of ideas in the attacking third in their Champions League semi-final 2nd-leg showdown with Bayern Munich, the Brazilian took the game by the scruff of the neck, to carve out chance after chance from his berth on the left flank.
Though he did not manage to get himself on the scoresheet on the night, Vinícius was the driving force behind everything which his side did, on their way to booking a place in yet another European finale.
And one individual for whom as much certainly did not go unappreciated comes in the form of the aforementioned Carlo Ancelotti.
Speaking to the media on the back of the full-time whistle at the Santiago Bernabéu, Ancelotti was drawn on the latest performance put forth by his attacking talisman.
And Real Madrid’s headmaster made use of the opportunity to push Vinícius’ name to the very forefront of the conversation to be crowned world football’s best player:
“I think Vinícius is close to winning the Ballon d’Or.”
Conor Laird | GSFN
