Levante defender Unai Elgezabal accused Real Madrid winger Vinícius Júnior of disrespecting the club as he explained the pair’s on-field clash.
Vinícius opened the scoring in Tuesday’s 4–1 victory with a delightful strike and caught the eye with a performance which was under the microscope—he’d been dropped for Madrid’s Champions League opener against Marseille and reports of his alleged frustration with life under manager Xabi Alonso began to emerge.
Just past the hour mark of the game, Vinícius burst past Elgezabal and into the Levante box to start the play which ended with Elgezebal giving away a penalty. As Kylian Mbappé waited to strike from 12 yards, the Levante defender and Vinícius clashed and heated words were exchanged.
Vinícius appeared to take exception to something said by Elgezabal, responding by putting his hands on the Levante defender’s neck. The pair were eventually separated by teammates as tensions rose.
Elgezabal: It’s True Vinicius Disrespected Us
“I don’t want to add fuel to the fire,” Elgezabal said in reflection of the incident. “But it’s true that when we’re disrespected—not just us, but the fans, the team we represent, because we’re also people—I think we have to say enough is enough.
“I know he’s a player with a lot of potential, but there are different situations that I don’t handle as a person.
“I think I defend and transmit values that mean sometimes, it has to be said that enough is enough. It wasn’t the time for that; for me, it was out of place. I don’t want to give it any more hype; I’d rather leave it there. I defend my people, and that’s as far as I can go.”
Alonso hailed what he saw as a “decisive and important” performance from Vinícius, who was challenged to respond to a difficult week which began with the European benching and also saw him left visibly annoyed at being substituted against Espanyol.
In the background, Madrid and Vinícius are butting heads over his contract situation. Now approaching the final 18 months of his current deal, both parties are thought to be keen to agree an extension, but discussions over the immense finances involved have so far proven fruitless.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Vinicius Junior Accused of Showing ‘Lack of Respect’ Following Ugly Clash.
