Vinicius Junior stated that his “crying” celebration after scoring in Real Madrid’s 2-1 victory over Manchester City on Tuesday was a response to the “Stop crying so much” banner displayed by City fans last season.
The Brazilian forward scored twice in the second leg of the round of 16 tie, converting a penalty in the 22nd minute and adding a second goal in stoppage time, securing Madrid’s place in the Champions League quarterfinals with a 5-1 aggregate score.
When the two teams met in February 2025, fans in Manchester displayed a banner showing midfielder Rodri holding the Ballon d’Or, which he had won ahead of Vinicius.
After missing a penalty in last week’s first leg, Vinicius Jr. beat goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma to score from the spot on Tuesday. He celebrated by standing tall and leaning against the corner flag before making a prolonged “crying” gesture with both hands.
“That’s how football is,” Vinicius told Movistar after the match. “There’s always another chance. We won here and we’re through to the quarterfinals.”
“It’s a very important game for our confidence,” he added. “Since the start of the season, we’ve played some good games, but we haven’t always controlled them like we did in this one. We were clear about what we had to do: work hard and take our chances, even though I missed a lot of them!”
“I wanted Valverde to take the penalty, but he refused, just like last week. But he gave me confidence as captain, and he managed to score and help the team.”
