Vinicius Threatens El Sadar Caught Between a Flood and a Drought

Vinicius last found the net in La Liga on November 9 last year in a match against Osasuna, which was part of the thirteenth round. Real Madrid arrived in high alert, and it marked the debut of Raúl Asencio. The humiliating defeat they suffered in the classic against Barça at the Bernabéu and the debacle against Milan a week and a half later at the same venue turned the clash with the reds into a plebiscite for the white parish. Carlo Ancelotti's legionaries emerged unscathed from that summary trial, extinguishing the fire with a goal from Bellingham and a Vinicius hat-trick in the first half. Since then, 98 days have passed, and that painful hat-trick due to his teammate Militao's severe injury marked the beginning of a drought in the tournament for the Fluminense player, which is even more significant amid the flood of millions Saudi Arabia wants to make him the object of.

Real Madrid's number 7 reached the noted clash against Osasuna boasting a sharp instinct. In the previous five matches, he had scored six goals. He netted one in his team's 2-0 victory over Villarreal, another in the 1-2 triumph against Celta, three to complete the European comeback against Dortmund (5-2), and although he was goalless in the mentioned catastrophe at the hands of Barça (0-4), he scored a penalty in the only local goal in the stumble against Milan (1-3). But after continuing his predatory capacity by devouring Osasuna, Vinicius began a worrying period of famine in which he is still immersed.

In the three months since that hat-trick, the Brazilian has scored three goals in the Champions League, another in the Intercontinental Cup final, and one more in the Copa del Rey round of 16. None, however, in a League where he has missed six of the last eleven rounds. In three of them, he was absent due to injury, in one he rested, and the remaining two he missed due to suspension after seeing red at Mestalla. Without accuracy in the other five, he hopes to open fire again finally this Saturday against his favourite victim, Osasuna, whom he has scored eight goals against in the eleven times he has faced the Navarrese side, in what is a wartime duel for Real Madrid.

The leader visits El Sadar, a minefield for the whites in the last two decades of the past century, which has become a much more favourable scenario for their interests in recent times. The six away victories and two draws since a solitary goal by Javier Camuñas gave the locals their last win on January 30, 2011, certify a change in trend that Ancelotti's troops will try to follow this Saturday to put pressure on both Atlético, second in the standings by one point and who will host Celta at the Metropolitano right after the duel in Pamplona, and Barça, third by two points after the Catalans took advantage of the draws last week in the capital derby by defeating Sevilla and who will play on Monday against Rayo in Montjuic.

With a long-distance race that is fiercely contested, Carletto cannot afford a single misstep or too many flourishes in the eleven he will field against Osasuna, despite the looming threat of Manchester City in the second leg of a Champions League tie well on track at the Etihad, but which will require a new effort from the whites to secure the pass on Wednesday at the Bernabéu. The Italian is feeling the absence of Militao, Carvajal, Rüdiger, Alaba, and Lucas Vázquez, although he hopes to recover the latter three against City.

Vicente Moreno has only one absence in his ranks, albeit a significant one. It is Boyomo, suspended for accumulating yellow cards. The centre-back switched from Valladolid to Pamplona at the start of the season and has become the undisputed leader of the defence of a team dreaming of being in Europe next season. He has participated in 26 of the 28 matches Osasuna has played so far this season, all of them as a starter. He has only missed two Cup matches and in La Liga, he barely rested for a while against Atlético. Only Rayo's Lejeune has accumulated more minutes than the Cameroonian in La Liga among all the outfield players in the championship. Deprived of the man who was the architect of the last-minute draw Osasuna achieved on Monday against Mallorca, Vicente Moreno will bet on Herrando to try to maintain his squad's good momentum at El Sadar, where they have only lost two matches and Barça fell.

Osasuna: Sergio Herrera, Areso, Catena, Herrando, Juan Cruz, Moncayola, Torró, Aimar Oroz, Rubén García, Budimir, and Bryan Zaragoza.

Real Madrid: Courtois, Valverde, Tchouaméni, Asencio, Fran García, Modric, Camavinga, Bellingham, Rodrygo, Mbappé, and Vinicius.

Referee: Munuera Montero (Andalusian Committee).

Time: 16:15 h.

Stadium: El Sadar.

TV: Dazn.