Math problem. If a Sunday player is able to stay awake all night after missing the inevitable, how many hours of sleep will Vitinha get in the coming days? You have three hours.
Context : PSG is held in check on Bayern’s lawn, and needs a goal to come back up to the Bavarians in the knockout stages of the Champions League (1-0 defeat in the first leg). At the end of the first period, the Parisian midfielder recovers a ball at the entrance to the area and takes advantage of a bad exit from Sommer to hit the empty goal. Finally, hitting is quickly said. A very cute, very nice little pass – not unlike Mbappé in the 2020 final – finally pushed back to the line by the Bayern defense.
Result : Paris does not open the scoring and will end up losing 2-0, bye, bye the C1.
The question: Could Vitinha do better?
As a preamble and before subjecting the Portuguese to popular condemnation, let us remember that part of the merit goes to him on the action. He follows the pressing triggered by Hakimi in the Bavarian area and anticipates Sommer’s pipe-breaking pass, which allows him to recover the ball. Extenuating circumstance, he is on his bad foot.
It’s after that things go wrong. By changing perspective, we realize that Vitinha has his head in the handlebars and that his last vision in the direction of the Bavarian goal dates from before the interception of the ball. Without updating the info, he does not know where he is, panics thinking that the defenders would have time to come back, and releases a moldy shot without momentum from the left foot. The speed of the shot is as pathetic as a second bullet 105km from Richard Gasquet, a consequence of the position of a body curled up like a fetus and therefore not at all ready to arm.
The solution : a very small additional touch, to adjust, even if it means taking the risk of seeing Goretzka come back and stamp it. By being smart, he could at worst have scratched a penalty.
The other question is whether the pass to Kylian Mbappé was possible. The French striker is not offside, but his body faces Vitinha, thrown at full ball, and has the empty side of the goal in the back, which would have implied a not necessarily ideal pivot shot. Had Kyks missed, the Portuguese would have been accused of not taking the chance. In addition, Upamecano is keeping an eye on the grain and is coming back very strongly. The solution was shooting.
Conclusion : Vitinha could have done better if he hadn’t lost his way and had a good left foot. A “fairground potato” workshop at the next training session wouldn’t hurt him. For the rest, we begin to wonder if he has enough personality to play at this level.