JAKARTA - For Real Madrid, Sunday, October 26, 2025, is justification day. After losing four games against Barcelona's tough rivals last season, Los Blancos won their first meeting in the 2025/2026 season.
Hari itu juga merupakan hari perayaan. Real Madrid meraih kemenangan 2-1 di El Clasico dalam pertandingan pertama Xabi Alonso sebagai manajer.
However, not everyone is in an atmosphere of celebration. In the 72nd minute, Alonso decided to pull out Brazil's winger Vinicius Junior and replace him with his compatriot, Rodrygo.
SEE ALSO:
Vinicius, runner-up for the 2024 Ballon d'Or, clearly disagrees with the decision.
The 25-year-old has clearly shown his disapproval when he left the field.
He excitedly directed his complaint towards the Real Madrid bench, before walking straight to the tunnel.
Steve McManaman, who played for Real Madrid between 1999 and 2003, was being commentator for ESPN in the El Clasico match.
He also commented on Vinicius' attitude, which he said did not prioritize the interests of the team.
"It's not about you, it's about the team. It's about being collective. It's about winning. It's about winning five points."
"It's about beating Barcelona after they beat you four times last year. It's about winning Xabi Alonso's first El Clasico as coach."
"We shouldn't talk about someone being replaced after 75 minutes. It drives me crazy," he said in the ESPN FC episode.
In Alonso's first 13 matches as coach in the 2025/2026 season, Vinicius played only full 90 minutes three times.
Earlier this season, the player's representatives told ESPN they were unhappy with Alonso's decision even though the situation had improved since then -- played full 90 minutes in three of the last six games -- and Alonso has remained in his support open.
Meanwhile, Rodrygo has to remain patient in chasing playing time. As Real Madrid adapt to Alonso's playing style, the 24-year-old has only played for 316 minutes - more than half the minutes played by 18-year-old summer signing Franco Mastantuono and 35 minutes less than Brahim Diaz, someone the Brazilian has beaten by a difference of more than 2,800 minutes in the last two seasons of the season.
"This shows a lack of respect for the manager and his team-mates who replaced him. Because Rodrygo could see him and said, 'Did you think you were better than me and better than anyone?' That's the problem," said Luis Garcia, who has performed 25 times for Barcelona after 12 years to ESPN FC.
As expected, Alonso remains diplomatic in response to Vinicius' outburst of emotion after the match.
"I will focus on a lot of positive things in this match and Vini's good things. Of course, we will discuss ( Vinicius' reaction)."
"However, I don't want to distract from anything really important. We'll talk about this, in the context of that great game."
"Vini contributed a lot. This is an important and appropriate victory. Important, it feels like being a competitive team in a big game. The rest, we'll talk about it later," Alonso said in a press conference after the match.
The English, Chinese, Japanese, Arabic, and French versions are automatically generated by the AI. So there may still be inaccuracies in translating, please always see Indonesian as our main language. (system supported by DigitalSiber.id)
