Ancelotti confirms Vinicius will face Villarreal
Vinicius Junior will be available for Real Madrid's trip to Villarreal on Sunday (AEDT)despite being given an extra day off after Los Blancos' midweek outing, coach Carlo Ancelotti has revealed.
Madrid beat neighbour Atletico Madrid 4-2 on penalties after the second leg of their UEFA Champions League Round of 16 tie in midweek, with Antonio Rudiger converting the decisive kick.
Vinicius, who missed a penalty during the 90 minutes that would have sent Madrid through without the need for extra-time, then missed training on Friday.
But Ancelotti has reassured fans the Brazilian will be involved in their next outing in LaLiga, saying: "We have given him an extra day's rest because he is still very tired.
"Tomorrow he will be available and at full strength to help us. He doesn't have any problems, just a bit of tiredness."
The Italian coach then backed the 24-year-old after his penalty miss at Metropolitano Stadium.
"For us, for me, Vinicius is an indisputable player," Ancelotti added. "He may have better or worse games, moments. But I don't dispute that.
"Even if sometimes he doesn't play well, even if he fails, he has been so important for this club that I can't argue with that."
Vinicius has 15 goal involvements in LaLiga this campaign, scoring 10 and assisting five. Only Robert Lewandowski (23), Kylian Mbappe (21), Raphinha (20), Lamine Yamal and Ante Budimir (both 16) have more.
Madrid has had some bumps on the road in its LaLiga title defence, only winning two of its past six matches in the competition.
The defending champion is level on 57 points with leader Barcelona, which has a game in hand and travels to Atletico Madrid, which is third and one point behind the duo, this weekend.
"We have to make an extra effort," Ancelotti said. "We can't feel fresh, because we haven't had the time needed.
"But we can put other things on the pitch: quality, a good attitude, play an intelligent game.
"There is not only one way to win. There are many, defending well, for example.
"Obviously, in terms of motivation, you have to push the players more in a game like tomorrow's compared to Wednesday's game against Atletico.
"In the [UEFA] Champions League the motivation comes by itself, tomorrow you have to push more."
