How do Real Madrid Plan Without Vinicius Jr in La Liga Games?

Yesterday (the 14th of October), it was confirmed that Real Madrid forward Vinicius Jr would be suspended for the next four La Liga games in a row.

The 26-year old thought he had scored just minutes after coming on last time out against Villarreal, but instead the goal was chalked and he was sent off for yanking the hair of an opponent.

La Liga confirmed that he would miss two games for the red card in isolation, as well as a further two games for his aggression in the immediate aftermath of the referee’s decision.

This means that he will miss the home game with Sevilla this weekend, as well as the three straight away games against FC Barcelona, Racing Club and Valencia. His La Liga return will come against Celta Vigo after the November international break.

So, how do Real Madrid go about replacing him in the starting XI in that time?

Truth be told, the form, or lack there of, from Vinicius this season makes it easier for Jose Mourinho than it otherwise may have been. Lest we forget, the Brazilian had been left out of the XI against Villarreal.

Now, perhaps the air miles and jet lag from the international break that saw Vinicius play and travel to Australia and India played a part, but it certainly didn’t have anyone saying “How could he possibly bench him?” It felt justified by the majority.

On that occasion, it was Yan Diomande who came into the side. The Ivorian international scored the only goal of the game, but that was after switching to the right hand side upon the Brazilian’s second half introduction to proceedings, and that is where the goal came from.

Still, the teenager is certainly a viable option there, allowing Mourinho to keep both Arda Guler - who has probably been Real Madrid’s best player so far this season - and Jude Bellinghm in the side.

The other option could be to play Kylian Mbappe on the left, and allow Carlos Espi or Endrick to play through the middle. During the international break, former Los Blancos player and manager Zinedine Zidane deployed the 27-year old there in his first game in charge of the France national team.

The sample size was only one game due to the injury Mbappe picked up in that game, but there was plenty of talk in the French media before the game that ‘Zizou’ sees him as a left winger moving forward, something the 54-year old alluded to himself. So it’s not impossible.

After their brilliant, game changing cameos against Roma on Wednesday night, it would feel very harsh if neither Espi nor Endrick were named in the starting XI against Sevilla, so perhaps the latter option, of Mbappe starting from the left, is the right thing for Mourinho to do.

That said, considering Diomande was a club record signing in the summer, the pressure could be there to bring him into the XI— rightly or wrongly. Let’s wait and see. Will certainly be fascinating to see the line up Mourinho goes for on Sunday evening.