Real Madrid have confirmed that Vinicius Junior is nursing a right hamstring injury, as had initially been suspected, following medical tests.
Vinicius suffered the problem only minutes into Madrid’s La Liga clash with Celta Vigo on Saturday. He initially tried to carry on, which gave Carlo Ancelotti hope that it might be nothing serious, but was forced to limp out of the game before 20 minutes had elapsed.
A statement from the club regarding the matter only read: "After the tests carried out on our player Vini Jr. by the Real Madrid Medical Services, he has been diagnosed with an injury to the right biceps femoris muscle. Evolution pending."
No timeframe has been offered by the club, but other estimates suggest the Brazilian is looking at five or six weeks on the sidelines. That would rule him out until the start of October.
Worryingly for Madrid, there are likely six games in all competitions that Vinicius would have to miss, including the city derby against Atletico and the first Champions League group match of the season. He also wouldn’t be able to represent Brazil in a pair of 2026 World Cup qualifiers this month.
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Without their best forward at the weekend, Ancelotti's team struggled for creativity against Celta and it took a late Jude Bellingham goal to take all three points and preserve their 100% start.
Vinicius and Rodrygo have already been operating in different roles this season to make up for the lack of a proper replacement for Karim Benzema following his Al Ittihad transfer and the lack of depth in attacking areas is now set to be blown wide open.
Veteran loan player Joselu, who replaced Vinicius in Vigo, was the only true forward on the bench, with Mariano Diaz having also finally left Madrid at the end of last season. Brahim Diaz is back after three years on loan at AC Milan but is more an attacking midfielder and has never been a regular goalscorer, while home-grown attacker Sergio Arribas was recently sold to Almeria.
As it stands, Bellingham has scored four of Madrid's six goals in La Liga so far this season and assisted another. That means he has had a direct hand in 84% of the team's entire output.
This article was originally published on 90min as Real Madrid confirm Vinicius Junior diagnosis & why that is worrying.
