Kyle Walker absolutely dominated Vinicius Jr during Manchester City’s 4-0 victory over Real Madrid in their Champions League semi-final second leg.
The battle between the two would always have a big say on the outcome of the tie.
And while City absolutely battered their opponents on Wednesday, Walker was a clear winner in the match-up with Vinicius.
Vinicius showed his incredible ability during the 1-1 draw in the first leg. The Brazilian opened the scoring with a terrific strike and looked extremely dangerous throughout the match.
But that certainly wasn’t the case at the Etihad.
Vinicius failed to create a single chance, have a shot on target or complete a take-on up against Walker.
He was silenced.
The race between Walker and Vinicius
And there’s one moment that summed up Walker vs Vinicius in the second leg.
Renowned for being the two fastest footballers on the planet, it would always be interesting if the pair got into a foot race.
Apart from it wasn’t interesting at all.
That’s because, when it looked as though Vinicius had got the wrong side of Walker thanks to Rodrygo’s pass, the City right back turned on the after-burners and caught up with his opponent with ease. Walker showed incredible pace to catch up with the winger, before using his strength to win the ball back.
Brilliant.
VIDEO: The race between Kyle Walker and Vinicius Jr
There was only one winner.
What did Henry say about Walker vs Vinicius?
CBS pundit, Thierry Henry, could hardly believe what he was seeing.
“Kyle Walker is a beast,” said Henry. “Whenever you have to run with him, then you might as well stop.
“At one point, he was way behind Vinicius Jr and he just caught him. Put his arm, took the ball and said ‘bye’, then went the other way. When it comes to that, he is too good.
“I have to say, he put Mbappe in his pocket at the quarter-final of the World Cup. He put a lot of players that are actually outstanding in his pocket. It’s not easy to beat him. You have to give him a lot of credit.”
What Walker said about facing Vinicius
Before the match, Walker revealed what he said to Vinicius during their exchange after the first leg.
“I went to hug him because he tried to rainbow me, so it was like ‘please don’t try that again’,” Walker said.
“But boxers fight and shake hands after and that is the respect I do have for him, when it is a good game, you show them that respect because they deserve it.”
