The 10 Minutes When Vinicius Played Like Pelé and Destroyed Dortmund

Seventy meters of running, ten touches of the ball, and a right-footed strike to complete the play, thrill the Bernabéu, and seal a comeback in autumn with a spring scent. Vinicius awakened Madrid against Dortmund with a recital and 'hat trick' for his team. The last two goals were astonishing. "In the 4-2, he received the ball 70 meters from the goal. When one is supposed to be exhausted to finish, he has the clarity and technique to place the ball near the post. Impressive. The 5-2 reminded me of Pelé: for how he entered the area, for the feint... Magnificent," praised Emilio Butragueño about the Fluminense player, who equalized in the 62nd minute, scored the second in the 86th, and completed his hat trick in the 93rd.

In the first half, he had carried the team on his back, and in the second, he grew. The striker did everything in his power for Madrid to sign another of those comebacks that no one can explain. The Bernabéu is a stadium so accustomed in recent times to feats that sometimes it seems to be longing for an opponent's goal so that the team ignites as it has been doing in recent Champions.

"We believe in ourselves, we know that in our home with our fans anything can happen. We arrived at the locker room very quiet, listened to the coach, and said one thing, if we score the first, we will come back again," said Vinicius to Movistar microphones, who closed his exhibition with seven shots, four of them on target.

"It's rare to see a player perform a second half like his," said Ancelotti about the one who led Madrid from death to resurrection. The crowd bid him farewell with chants of 'Vinicius, Ballon d'Or', which may be just five days away from becoming a reality. Predictions indicate that next Monday the Brazilian will receive the highest individual award in the world of football at the Chatelet Theatre in Paris, a gala in which he is undoubtedly set to be the protagonist.

With his goals against the German team, the striker has managed to enter the top seven scorers in Real Madrid's history between the Champions League and the old European Cup. With 24 goals in 59 matches, he is only surpassed by Paco Gento (31), Ferenc Puskás (34), Di Stéfano (49), Raúl (66), Benzema (78), and Cristiano Ronaldo (105). So far this season, he has already scored 8 goals and provided 7 assists. Over the last four seasons, no one has been as decisive as the Brazilian: the former Flamengo player has produced 37 goals (20 goals and 17 assists), compared to Mbappé's 32 (23/9), Lewandowski's 27 (23/4), or Haaland's 26 (22/4).