Thibaut Courtois has compared Real Madrid team-mate Vinicius Jr to Chelsea talisman Eden Hazard.
The Brazilian winger bagged his fourth goal of the season during Real’s 3-0 win over Alaves on Sunday – a result which saw Los Blancos move up to third in the La Liga table.
Can Vinicius reach the levels of Eden Hazard? Five key things to know…
- Vinicius scored 14 goals in 69 games for Flamengo, helping the club win the 2017 Campeonato Carioca.
- The 18-year-old made a reported £40.3m move to Real Madrid in the summer.
- Vinicius already has four goals for the Los Blancos first team, as well as four goals in five outings for their reserve side.
- Real goalkeeper Courtois has compared the Brazilian’s fearless attitude to that of former Chelsea team-mate Hazard.
- Vinicius scored the second goal in Real’s 3-0 win over Alaves on Sunday and could feature in El Clasico.
And Vinicius’ overall performance left Courtois very impressed, with the goalkeeper comparing the 18-year-old’s fearless approach to his former Chelsea colleague.
“Yes he does remind me of someone – Eden Hazard,” Courtois told reporters after the match.
“He has so much self-confidence and belief at his age, and he plays boldly and without fear, so they are very similar.”
Courtois was also happy to add another victory to what has been a positive turnaround in form from the European champions, with a tough run of games seeing Real face Barcelona three times, Atletico Madrid and Ajax twice among their next eight fixtures.
“This victory (over Alaves) is important because they defend well and are a tough opponent, so we are happy,” the Belgian added.
“We are now in a good run of form but we are happy to be in a winning run, we have won every game since Real Sociedad and even then we deserved to win.
“Now there is an important run of games…the Copa, the game against Atletico and the Champions League.”
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Real Madrid team-mates ‘love’ Vinicius, according to Solari
Courtois wasn’t the only one to heap praise on Vinicius following his impressive performance against Alaves.
Real manager Santiago Solari also praised the former Flamengo youngster, saying he has the ‘”love and support” of his team-mates.
“He has done a great match, Vinicius, and was applauded from the [Santiago] Bernabeu,” Solari said (via the Daily Mail).
“He is responding very well when he plays and in training. We are delighted with his arrival and his performances, and he always has the support of the mature players in the squad, who take care of him, love him and they advise him.”
Los Blancos face rivals Barcelona in their next game.
Host Jake Entwistle is joined by Sam Long and Will Hall for this week’s Squawka Talker to discuss Man City 3-1 Arsenal, the Bundesliga title race, Gonzalo Higuain’s start to life at Chelsea, the best of the rest beyond the ‘Big Six’ and the upcoming El Clasico.
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