Alarm bells and serious doubts: what will happen when Vinicius returns to Real Madrid?

Defensive duties, the Brazilian star's chronic problem

Real Madrid look back to their best. A thumping 4-1 win over Sevilla has lifted the standard of Jose Mourinho's side, and they are now ready to take the fight to Barcelona.

Three points still separate them from Barcelona in La Liga. But the Merengues know that one slip from Hansi Flick's side could hand them top spot.

The revival has coincided with Vinicius Junior's absence from the starting line-up during his four-match suspension, alongside the rise of Yan Diomande, who has become one of the Merengues' standout performers, according to Spanish radio website "Cadena SER".

What will happen when Vinicius returns?

Once his four-match ban is served, the Brazilian will try to force his way back into a line-up that thrived without him.

The subject came up on Cadena SER's "El Larguero", where former Spain player Alvaro Benito urged Vinicius Junior to rediscover his level alongside the rest of the team. "For me, it is very simple. He is an excellent player, but he has a problem: he tends to slacken off defensively for most of the match," he said.

Benito reckons Diomande shouldn't be dropped either, given his superb start to the season. "I would prefer to keep Diomande or to rotate him into the side. There are matches in which Guler could play in the double pivot with Tchouameni to rest Bernardo," he added.

Even so, the analyst believes Vinicius must throw himself into his defensive work if he wants to keep his place at Real Madrid.

"When every player performs his defensive duties, which is logical, all we have to do is see who delivers the best performance and the strongest attack in each match. But for me, I have not felt for a long time that things are going well," he explained.

Former Real Madrid defender Rafa Alkorta then reminded Vinicius that competing with Diomande demands the same graft. "Diomande scores goals and works hard," he said.

Vinicius Junior, meanwhile, neglects his defensive duties, and that has cost Real Madrid plenty in the past. "We are talking about a player with a wonderful physical build. He is like a machine. All he has to do is switch off that part of his brain that tells him to run forwards and backwards. For me, this is one of the things that would benefit him greatly. How can we not try to help him get out of his current situation? It depends on him, and I have serious doubts about his ability to do that," Alkorta said.

Former Spain player Jose Mari Bakero points to recent seasons, where Vinicius ignored his defensive duties altogether. "This situation stems from the decline in allowing Vinicius to do things that are completely out of context. Now, with Mourinho and this sending-off, we must bear in mind that Vinicius has picked up some very unhealthy habits over the past few years, and it will not be easy because it is part of his nature, unfortunately," he said.

Benito shares that view, believing recent events have hardly helped. "It will not be easy because he feels that he is doing nothing different from what he was doing when he was at his brilliant best, even though his real breakthrough came when he was playing as a second striker under Ancelotti. Even Arbeloa told him that there are players who should not be assigned defensive duties, which is why he needs to change his way of thinking to become the player he once was," he said.