Vinicius scores magical hat-trick but Madrid suffer more injury woe

Vinicius Junior netted a hat-trick as Real Madrid returned to winning ways beating Osasuna 4-0.

Real started slowly and were dealt major blows as they lost both Rodrygo and Eder Militao to injury.

However Carlo Ancelotti’s side took the lead after 34 minutes, with Vinicius thumping home past Sergio Herrera.

Jude Bellingham doubled Madrid’s advantage after 42 minutes, latching onto a long pass from Raul Asencio before lifting the ball over Herrera and Vini Jr grabbed his second of the afternoon on the hour mark, with goalkeeper Andriy Lunin sending a pass the length of the pitch into the path of the Brazilian, who did the rest.

The forward then completed his hat-trick just eight minutes later, this time finishing from close-range after Brahim Diaz pickpocketed Flavien Boyomo in his own penalty area before feeding the Brazilian.

The victory takes Real Madrid onto 27 points, six points behind La Liga leaders Barcelona, who face Real Sociedad tomorrow.

This was a potential banana skin for Real Madrid but one they avoided in professional fashion. After losing two consecutive matches (0-4 v Barcelona, 1-3 v AC Milan), Madrid came into this one just three points ahead of opponents Osasuna, who had picked up an impressive 21 points from their first 12 matches of the season, but Carlo Ancelotti’s men returned to winning ways against a solid outfit.

Catching Barcelona remains a tough task, even at this early stage, but today’s win takes them six points behind the Blaugrana, albeit Hansi Flick’s team do play on Sunday against Real Sociedad. It was important for Los Blancos to return to winning ways in the league following their humiliation against Barcelona last week and they’ve done exactly that and head into the international break knowing they’ve taken a step in the right direction.

The Brazilian was simply unplayable today for Real Madrid. His fine finish after 34 minutes gave Real Madrid the lead before taking both his second and third goals brilliantly in the second half to round off his hat-trick. Vini Jr also completed seven of his 12 dribbles, made two key passes and won 12 duels. A fine performance.

Real Madrid: Lunin 8, Vazquez 7, Militao 6, Rudiger 7, Garcia 7, Valverde 7, Camavinga 7, Bellingham 8, Rodrygo 7, Mbappe 6, Vini Jr 10. Subs: Modric 7, Diaz 7, Asencio 7, Guler 6, Endrick 6.

Osasuna: Herrera 6, Bretones 6, Boyomo 5, Catena 6, Areso 6, Moncayola, Torro 6, Oroz 6, Zaragoza 6, Budimir 6, Pena 6 Subs: Garcia 6, Gomez 6, Ruben Garcia 6, Munoz 6, Anraiz 6.

34’ GOAL! REAL MADRID 1-0 OSASUNA (VINI JR) – Vini Jr has given Real Madrid the lead with an emphatic finish! The Brazilian received the ball on the left-hand side, cutting in on his right foot before firing past Herrera.

42’ GOAL! REAL MADRID 2-0 OSASUNA (BELLINGHAM) – Jude Bellingham has made it 2-0 for Real Madrid! Raul Asencio plays an unbelievable pass from defence right over the Osasuna team and into Bellingham who waits for the bounce before lofting his effort over Herrera’s head.

62’ GOAL! REAL MADRID 3-0 OSASUNA (VINI JR) – Vinicius Junior has made it 3-0 to Real Madrid. Goalkeeper Lunin played a superb pass from his own penalty area straight into the path of Vini who rounds Herrera before slotting into an empty net!

69’ GOAL! REAL MADRID 4-0 OSASUNA (VINI JR) – Vinicius Junior has made it 4-0 to Real Madrid and it was a truly horrendous goal for Osasuna to give away. Flavien Boyomo gets caught on the ball in his own penalty area by Brahim who slides a pass across to Vini for a tap in.