Vinicius Junior named as Real Madrid captain for Real Sociedad showdown | OneFootball

Vinicius Junior has achieved many things since joining Real Madrid in the summer of 2018, and he has now checked another milestone off his list after being named as captain for the first time.

Real Madrid are taking on Real Sociedad at the Reale Arena in the first leg of their Copa del Rey semi-final tie, and for the match, head coach Carlo Ancelotti has named an interesting line-up. Raul Asencio will line up at right-back, while there is a recall for Eduardo Camavinga in midfield because Aurelien Tchouameni is playing alongside Antonio Rudiger in the centre of defence. Meanwhile, there is also very rare starts for Arda Guler and Endrick Felipe, who replaces the injured Kylian Mbappe.

But perhaps the standout takeaway from the line-up is that Vinicius will captain Real Madrid for the very first time – he does so because Lucas Vazquez and Luka Modric have both been named on the bench by Ancelotti.

As per Diario AS, Vinicius is Real Madrid’s fifth captain, behind Modric, Dani Carvajal, Lucas and Federico Valverde. Carvajal and Valverde have now travelled to San Sebastian because of injury, and because the other two are on the bench, it has meant that the Brazilian takes the armband, which is a very proud moment for him.

It is also noted that Thibaut Courtois is considered to be fifth captain of Real Madrid alongside Vinicius, but given that he is also not playing against La Real due to a muscle overload, it has meant that Vinicius is the undisputed holder of the captain’s armband.

It will be interesting to see how Vinicius gets on as captain for the night, and whether it can given him extra motivation to be the difference maker for Real Madrid. First and foremost, his objective will be to secure a victory, which would have Los Blancos in pole position to reach the final of this season’s Copa del Rey.