Much of the talk this summer around Real Madrid is focused on a wide forward that they don't own, but perhaps they don't need Kylian Mbappe immediately. Perhaps they have a more impactful winger already. Vinicius Jr. suggested as such with a stellar 45 minutes against AC Milan on Sunday, with the Brazilian scoring the decisive goal in a 3-2 win.
But this wasn't a simple one for Madrid. Milan broke the deadlock, with Fikayo Tomori nodding home a free header from a Christian Pulisic corner — an assist that was met with delight from the American crowd. The Rossoneri added a second shortly before half-time, as teenage substitute Luka Romero found the top corner with a lovely curler from the edge of the box.
Madrid enjoyed a lot of promising moments in between, with Jude Bellingham functioning as the apex of a restructured midfield. But despite all of his powerful strides and deft flicks, Los Blancos were held scoreless at the break.
The introduction of Vinicius changed things, though. The Brazilian started the move for Madrid's first, linking play as they sprung on the counter — a sequence Federico Valverde ended after a blunder from Marco Sportiello in the Milan goal. Valverde added a second three minutes later, with a well-placed shot from the top of the box.
And Vinicius eventually provided the winner, darting in behind the Milan defence before rolling the ball into the bottom corner with less than 10 minutes remaining.
GOAL looks at what we learned during the clash at the Rose Bowl...