Vinícius of Madrid states that his tearful celebration was directed at City supporters.
Vinícius Júnior stated that his “crying” celebration following his goal in Real Madrid’s 2-1 victory over Manchester City on Tuesday was a reaction to last season’s “stop crying your heart out” banner displayed by City supporters.
The prominent forward netted twice in the round-of-16 second leg encounter—first converting a penalty in the 22nd minute and then scoring again in stoppage time—as Madrid advanced to the Champions League quarterfinals with a 5-1 aggregate score.
During the teams’ meeting in February 2025, fans in Manchester showcased a banner featuring midfielder Rodri holding the Ballon d’Or, which he had secured ahead of Vinícius.
After failing to convert a penalty in the first leg last week, Vinícius successfully sent goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma the wrong way with his spot kick on Tuesday, celebrating by posing, leaning against the corner flag, and then performing an extended ‘crying’ gesture with both hands.
“Football is like that; there’s always another chance,” Vinícius remarked to Movistar after the match. “We have won here and are through to the quarterfinals.”
Television cameras later captured Vinícius making a “4-0” sign to the spectators at the Etihad Stadium, indicating Madrid’s aggregate advantage at that moment.
The Brazil international had an eventful evening, with another goal in the second half ruled out, finishing with a total of seven shots, three of which were on target, and an expected goals (xG) tally of 2.58.
“This is a very significant match for our confidence,” Vinícius told Movistar. “Since the beginning of the season, we’ve had some strong performances, but we haven’t always managed them as well as we did in this tie.”
“We were clear on what we needed to do: work hard and seize our opportunities, even though I missed quite a few!”
Vinícius mentioned that he had hoped Federico Valverde would take the penalty, given that the Brazilian had failed to convert his spot kick at the Bernabéu, where Valverde had scored a hat trick.
“I wanted Fede to take it last week, but he declined, and I missed,” Vinícius explained. “Again today, I asked him to take it, but he instilled confidence in me as the captain, and I was able to score and assist the team.”
Madrid goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois was substituted at halftime and replaced by Andriy Lunin, but coach Álvaro Arbeloa later downplayed injury concerns ahead of Sunday’s derby against Atlético Madrid in LaLiga.
“It was a precaution,” Arbeloa told Movistar. “He experienced some minor discomfort, and we didn’t want to take any risks. I hope he’ll be available for us on Sunday.”
