Real Madrid are counting the cost of Vinicius Junior’s injury, after it was revealed that the Brazilian’s hamstring trouble was in fact a tear, rather than a simple strain.
Madridistas were calmed by Carlo Ancelotti’s words in the aftermath, who claimed it was not a serious issue, but it appears it is worse than first thought. Vinicius could miss four to six weeks with a hamstring tear, as per El Chiringuito, and it will likely cost him the first Madrid derby.
💥 VINICIUS, K.O 💥
👎 @EduAguirre7 desvela que se perderá, mínimo, un mes de competición.
🏟️ ¿Cuántos partidos estará fuera? #ChiringuitoVinicius pic.twitter.com/bGoBGgTAEy
— El Chiringuito TV (@elchiringuitotv) August 27, 2023
At minimum, it looks as if he will be out for a month, meaning Vinicius would be highly doubtful for their trip to the Civitas Metropolitano to face Atletico Madrid.
Originally he was expected to miss their home tie against Getafe at any rate, but after the international break he could also be out for Real Sociedad at home, Atletico away, Las Palmas at home and the opening round of the Champions League group stages.
Then matches against Girona away, where they were beaten 4-2 last season, the second round of the Champions League and another tie at the Santiago Bernabeu against Osasuna will depend on how fast his recovery is. Even in the worst case of the diagnosis, he should be fit to face Sevilla away at the Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan on the 22nd of October.
It will raise questions for Ancelotti about how to approach the next month of action. Joselu Mato and Brahim Diaz are the obvious options to replace Vinicius in attack, but he could also shift Rodrygo Goes to the left, where he has been effective beforehand. It appears none of the options open to the Italian would be a natural fit with the new 4-4-2 diamond system, thus he will have to decide whether to temporarily abandon it, or stick with an altered version.
