Lothar Matthäus, the Bayern Munich and German football legend, believes Vinicius Junior is a “great player” but deliberately provokes opponents, then complains and cries.
Matthäus’s comments came ahead of the highly anticipated match between Real Madrid and Bayern Munich, which will take place on Tuesday at the Santiago Bernabéu Stadium in the first leg of the Champions League quarter-finals.
When asked about Vinicius, Matthäus said, “Of course, he’s a great player, but he provokes others endlessly.”
He added, “When someone really tackles him on the pitch, he just complains and cries. This behavior has become typical of him.”
Matthäus didn’t stop at criticizing Vinicius; he also criticized Real Madrid, saying, “I don’t think the way Real Madrid has behaved in recent years has been right either.”
He added, “Rodri was chosen as the best player in the world, and then they [in Madrid] said, ‘Yes, this is unfair; it should have been one of our players.’ So they decided to boycott.”
He concluded, “This is something you don’t do. Out of respect for your opponents, for other teams and players, you don’t do it. Even the press saw it negatively, and in doing so, a club that has achieved great things and has a truly great history loses some of its prestige and standing.”
