‘I scolded him a little!’ – Carlo Ancelotti reveals how he fired up Vinicius Junior to inspire Real Madrid star to score in Champions League final victory against Borussia Dortmund

• Real beat Dortmund 2-0 in the UCL final
• Vinicius scored the second of the night
• Ancelotti’s half-time talk fired up forward

WHAT HAPPENED?

However, Vinicius was marked tightly by Julian Ryerson and was given little room to manoeuvre by the Dortmund full-back in the first half. The Brazilian regained his mojo in the next 45 minutes after hearing an earful from his manager during the break and did enough to fire Real to their sixth European crown in the last 10 years.

In a post-match interview with Movistar, Ancelotti revealed: “I scolded him a little. In the first half, we were a little lazy, we had losses and we allowed them to play the way they wanted.”

The Italian won his third Champions League title as a manager and insisted that he would go for his fourth in the next campaign.

“Never get used to it, because it has been difficult, very difficult, more than expected. In the second half, we were better, more balanced, fewer losses…This is a dream that continues,” he added.

Vinicius scored in his second Champions League final, after finding the net against Liverpool in 2021-22, and also completed eight dribbles in the match – which is the most by an individual since Lionel Messi (10) against Juventus in 2015.

After conquering Europe with Real Madrid, Vinicius will now turn his attention to another continental competition as he will aim to win the Copa America title with Brazil in the United States. The Selecao begin their campaign against Costa Rica on June 25 followed by the two next group stage fixtures against Paraguay and Colombia.