Pep Guardiola, the manager of Manchester City, is apparently in contact with Xavi, the manager of Barcelona, as he tries to halt Vinicius Junior of Real Madrid.
On Wednesday, May 17, the Cityzens will face Los Blancos in the second leg of their UEFA Champions League semifinal. The opening leg score between the two European heavyweights is tied at one each. Vinicius’ spectacular goal gave Madrid the lead. Guardiola wants to address this problem because of the problems he caused the City defense to face.
El Nacional claims that Guardiola and Xavi have spoken to develop a strategy for neutralizing Vinicius’ threat. The two have a strong working relationship thanks to their past time spent together at Camp Nou.
In the four games Real Madrid has played against Barcelona this year, Vinicius has scored just once. In order to stop the Brazilian from having fun on the left flank, Xavi decided to substitute Ronald Araujo as a makeshift right-back.
Pep Guardiola is curious as to Xavi’s reasoning for starting Araujo at right-back in those El Clasico matches rather than Jules Kounde. The City manager thinks Vinicius’ threat has been minimized best by his former midfielder.
At right-back, Kyle Walker is anticipated to stick around and perform well in the opening leg. However, he would emphasise attack more in the second leg because Riyad Mahrez is anticipated to join the team.
