Barcelona Boss Xavi Hails Vinicius Jnr, Says ‘He’s Like Neymar’

The manager of Barcelona, Xavi, has compared Vinicius Junior of Real Madrid to Neymar and urged officials to protect the Brazilian more moving forward.

Rival Vinicius Junior has received some glowing praise from Xavi, who likens him to fellow countryman Neymar.

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The Barcelona coach thinks the Real Madrid attacker needs more protection than he presently receives because he has been upsetting La Liga defenders and drawing some extremely strong challenges.

Xavi said, “Vinicius, who is very good one on one, causes the opponent to be more aggressive.

“That also happened with Neymar. There is a referee and a committee that must do their job.”

Vinicius scored goals in five straight games to start the season for Real Madrid, but his performance has dipped recently. He has only managed one league goal since the World Cup.

The Spanish champions play Mallorca next before departing for Morocco for the Club World Cup, where they are put in the semifinals right away. They have not yet identified their opponents.