Luka Modric’s frustration towards Real Madrid team-mate Vinicius Jr was on full display on Wednesday night, as fans saw the 39-year-old gesturing furiously at the Brazilian during his side’s narrow 3-2 win over CD Leganes in the Copa del Rey.
Real Madrid, who are suffering an availability crisis in defence with senior stars David Alaba, Antonio Rudiger, Eder Militao and Dani Carvajal all out through injury, edged past Leganes thanks to a 93rd minute goal from substitute Gonzalo Garcia.
But the match was overshadowed by a key moment suggesting that all may not be well in the Real Madrid camp, as Carlo Ancelotti’s side gear up for a seismic week.
Los Blancos take on bitter rivals Atletico Madrid in LaLiga on Saturday before travelling to the Etihad three days later for the first leg of their knockout Champions League play-off against Manchester City.
Footage of Modric waving his arms furiously at Vinicius Jr while Real Madrid were organising themselves defensively in the last five minutes of the match went viral on social media, as fans expressed fears over a fallout between the two stars.
According to Marca, Modric went over to Vinicius Jr asking him to help the team out defensively moments after a Leganes counterattack.
This is unacceptable behaviour from Vinicius & this attitude needs to be fixed immediately.
So basically captain Modric asked Vini to track back & help the team defensively, Vini didn’t like that & responded with a gesture. Modric rightfully scolded him.pic.twitter.com/z6DO3W4T1a https://t.co/TaxdhlUXzM
— Mayank (@MayankRMFC)
February 6, 2025
The Brazilian reportedly ‘did not like’ the demand, which prompted Modric to explode on the pitch.
Modric, who netted Real Madrid’s opening goal on the night, played down any notion of a sustained row between the pair after the match, insisting: ‘It’s football… You see everything you shouldn’t see.’
When asked about the incident in his post-match press conference, Ancelotti said: ‘Modric was angry with Vinicius? I don’t know what happened but if Modric said something then it’s correct. Always agree with Luka Modric.’
The on-field row came just days after Vinicius Jr was reportedly involved in a bust-up with fellow Real Madrid team-mate Dani Ceballos.
Reports in Spain claim Vinicius Jr clashed with Ceballos after Real Madrid’s 1-0 defeat by Espanyol last Saturday because the Spaniard gave him very few passes during the game.
Ancelotti, in an effort to smooth over the incident and keep Vinicius Jr happy, reportedly told his players to pass to the Brazilian more ahead of the Copa del Rey clash.
The managerhas also admitted over the last few days that Real Madrid are ‘in emergency’ ahead of their showdown with Manchester City.
‘We are in an emergency, as both (Antonio) Rudiger and (David) Alaba will be out for 20 days. The only options at centre back are Jacobo Ramon, Raul Asencio and Tchouameni,’ he said prior to facing Leganes.
Rudiger played in central defender with Tchouameni against Espanyol, before the former Chelsea star was ruled out through injury.
Ramon and Asencio were named as Ancelotti’s centre-backs in the Copa del Rey and are now in contention to start together again for both the City and Atletico games.
Ramon, 20, has played in the Champions League before – against Red Bull Salzburg – but is yet to feature in LaLiga. He was promoted to the senior team set-up in the summer. Asencio, meanwhile, has played four times in the Champions League and 10 times in LaLiga.