Vini Jr has ascended to a higher plane – so good he’s reducing title challengers to tears

“You keep asking me about a player who plays for another team,” Carlo Ancelotti responded to the thousandth question he’s been asked about Kylian Mbappe.

“We already have the best players in the world here,” he continued, before naming them:

“In order: Vini Jr first, Bellingham second, Rodrygo third. Then Kroos, Valverde, Camavinga…”

You look at the way Vinicius Junior ripped apart Girona in Saturday’s La Liga title tussle and you actually believe him. This isn’t just lip service. It’s hard to look past the Brazilian when you catch him in that kind of mood.

It took just five minutes for Vinicius to open the scoring, firmly putting Girona in their place by drifting inside and unleashing a fierce strike that two ‘keepers couldn’t have stopped. It was a goal reminiscent of Real Madrid’s all-time greatest goalscorer at his very best, Cristiano Ronaldo.

Brazil, having produced Ballon d’Or winning greats like Rivaldo, Ronaldo and Ronaldinho, haven’t had one since Kaka in 2017. Neymar – with podium finishes in 2015 and 2017 – has come as close as anyone in that time, but his move to PSG failed to deliver the individual recognition he craved.

Mbappe and Erling Haaland are yet to win football’s most prestigious individual accolade, but have been anointed to dominate the post Messi and Ronaldo era. But you look at Vinicius and you sense he might have a word to say about that. He’d have Ancelotti’s vote, anyway.

Having already won everything there is to win with Los Blancos, the best might still be yet to come from the 23-year-old. He’s entering his prime years and looks ready to dominate.

As his manager noted, this Madrid team is full of great players. Not least Jude Bellingham, who scored twice against Girona to take his tally to 20