Los Blancos star is 'no saint', but trying to improve

Vinicius Junior admitted he was "no saint" after inspiring Real Madrid to Spanish Super Cup victory on Sunday with a hat-trick in a 4-1 thrashing of rival Barcelona in Saudi Arabia.

The Brazilian winger, 23, is often criticized by opponents for "humiliating" them with his dribbling skills, going down too easily in tackles and confronting officials.

Barcelona defender Ronald Araujo was sent off for two yellow cards, both for fouls on Vinicius.

Players and staff on Barcelona's bench, including midfielder Sergi Roberto, appeared to remonstrate with Vinicius in the second half.

"I'm very sad, because everyone wants to fight with me because they know it will come out in the media," Vinicius told reporters after the game.

"I try to focus on the game and to do the best for my teammates, (but) I am not a saint, sometimes I talk too much, do dribbles I shouldn't do, but I am here to improve.

"I want to improve, and my teammates and the coach are showing me what I have to do."

Real Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti said he took Vinicius off in the final stages because he was tired.

"I took off Vinicius for all the effort he'd put in, not to avoid problems," the Italian told reporters.

"I took him off for the last 10 minutes. Vinicius has to do his job, which is to make people excited and bring trophies to Real Madrid."

Vinicius was by far the best player on the pitch as Real Madrid crushed its rival to avenge last year's Super Cup final defeat at the hands of the Catalans.

The Brazilian's hat-trick doubled his tally of goals against Barcelona to six in 16 appearances.

Vinicius celebrated his first goal in the style of Cristiano Ronaldo, the former Real Madrid striker and the club's all-time top scorer, who now plays in Saudi Arabia.

"I am very happy for what we did today. To beat Barcelona 4-1 is very hard. Today, we had an almost perfect game."

AFP