Real Madrid’s Brazilian teenager Vinicius Jr. felt the darker side of his club’s rivalry with Atletico Madrid when he was bitten by an opponent after scoring twice in a reserve-team derby match on Sunday.
Vinicius, 18, moved to Real in June a year after signing from Brazilian giants Flamengo for 42 million euros ($48.7 million) but has been unable to get into the first team and has been playing for their reserve side Real Madrid Castilla in Spain’s regionalised third division.
Lovely! @Atleti very welcoming to Vinicius Jr in his first ‘taste’ of a Madrid derby. pic.twitter.com/jU5IA06hYU
— Football Whispers (@FB_WHISPERS) 2 September 2018
He netted both Real’s goals in the derby which finished 2-2 but clashed with Tachi, who tried to sink his teeth into the back of the Brazilian’s head as the pair tussled for the ball. Tachi escaped a red card and was only given a booking for the incident while Vinicius also picked up a yellow card for dissent.
Barcelona forward Luis Suarez is infamous for biting opponents on three occasions while playing for Ajax, Liverpool and Uruguay although he has not done it again since joining the the Catalan club in 2014.