A little bit under a year ago, Vinicius was in the headlines at Real Madrid for all the wrong reasons.

During a Champions League group game against Borussia Moenchengladbach while 1-0 down at half-time, Vinicius had been struggling.

Then the cameras picked up Karim Benzema telling Ferland Mendy not to pass him the ball because he was “playing against us” and all hell broke loose.

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Benzema was forced to apologise publicly, while Vinicius’ form and confidence took a hit in the Madrid side that eventually finished as runners-up in La Liga and were eliminated in the Champions League semi-finals.

Zinedine Zidane left and Carlo Ancelotti came in and now fast forward to today, a year on from that incident, and Vinicius has grown into one of the most important members of the Real Madrid attack.

With seven goals and three assists in 11 appearances this season, he’s become far more productive than he has been in previous seasons. But his influence on the team is growing too.

He has become the regular starter on the left wing ahead of big money man Eden Hazard and his relationship with Benzema has improved to the point where they are both having the best start to a season they have ever had.

It’s a breakthrough campaign for the Brazilian, who is now into his fourth season at the Bernabeu despite only being 21-years-old.

He has already surpassed his goal tally for every other season at the club before Novemeber and with Hazard’s future at the club in doubt, he is making the spot his own.

From the depths of ‘Binicius’ and his own teammates not wanting to give him the ball, he’s now the go-to man along with Benzema and with the fans backing him the sky is the limit.