Football: Vinicius plays down Clasico rift after Real Madrid's 2-1 win

Madrid (Spain), Oct 28 (IANS) Real Madrid's Brazilian winger Vinicius Jr has apologised for his behaviour after being substituted in the second half of his side's 2-1 win over FC Barcelona on Sunday.

Real Madrid coach Xabi Alonso replaced Vinicius with Rodrygo, which enraged the winger. Vinicius walked off the pitch, shouting and making angry gestures, before storming down the players' tunnel, in actions that provoked almost as many headlines as the match result.

Vinicius later returned to the Real Madrid dugout and picked up a booking after being involved in the angry scenes between both sets of players at the final whistle as the Real Madrid players recriminated with Lamine Yamal for comments he had made before the match, implying that Real Madrid "robbed" games, reports Xinhua.

Vinicius' behaviour has renewed speculation that the club could try to sell him as contract talks reportedly stalled, but in an interview with Real Madrid TV, the Brazilian tried to make light of the incidents.

"El Clásico is like that: There are a lot of things happening on and off the pitch," he said, insisting he "didn't want to offend anyone, not Barca players, nor the fans."

"We try to maintain a balance," continued Vinicius, before adding that "we know that when we step onto the pitch, we have to defend our side, and that's how it was."

Real Madrid coach Xabi Alonso won the tactical battle against FC Barcelona with a relatively simple plan. He ensured there was never much space between defence and midfield, while putting Eduardo Camavinga and Aurelien Tchouameni together to deny Barcelona space for its quick passing game.

Jude Bellingham was placed on the right, but was allowed freedom to move and support Kylian Mbappe in the Madrid attack, and that worked perfectly with the Englishman's first league goal of the season.

Meanwhile, Barcelona couldn't deal with Mbappe, who opened the scoring and had a goal ruled out for the tightest of offside infractions.

--IANS

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