´It´s time for a magical night at home,´ says Vinicius ahead of Bayern Munich second leg

Vinicius Junior is eyeing “a magical night at home” when Real Madrid welcome Bayern Munich for their Champions League semi-final second leg next week.

The two European heavyweights shared a 2-2 draw in a pulsating first leg at the Allianz Arena, setting up a grandstand climax when the battle resumes at Santiago Bernabeu.

Vinicius opened the scoring in the 24th minute, but Madrid found themselves 2-1 behind in the second half after Leroy Sane levelled and Harry Kane slotted home from the penalty spot.

However, the Brazil international was also on target from the penalty spot to ensure a share of the spoils with his 31st direct goal involvement in the Champions League since the start of the 2021-22 season – more than any other player in that time.

“We always want to win, but we know that this competition is like that, you can’t give away balls because teams score the chances they have,” he said, as reported by Reuters.

“We have to keep our heads calm, rest until next week, and we know that we and the fans are going to leave everything at the Santiago Bernabeu to qualify.

“Now it’s time for a magical night at home to win and secure our place in the final.”

@ViniJr#UCL pic.twitter.com/DsTwSZUrPm

— Real Madrid C.F. (@realmadrid) May 1, 2024

Vinicius’ first goal saw him calmly slide home from Toni Kroos’ delicious throughball, with the latter playing 15 line-breaking passes in the first half – at least 10 more than any other player on the pitch.

Rodrygo, who was fouled by Kim Min-jae for the penalty that led to Madrid’s second goal, paid tribute to the 34-year-old.

“We all keep telling him to keep on playing for not just one more season, but many seasons to come yet,” he told Movistar. “He’s genuinely a maestro with talent which people love to watch, and we all love to play with.

“If we couldn’t win, we were determined not to lose. Given what went on, a draw’s a good result. We know the Champions League. We’re accustomed to matches like this.

“I believe that teams think they’ve killed us off, and that’s when we are at our most dangerous.”