“Always crying for fouls” – Fans feel Real Madrid superstar ‘isn’t that guy anymore’ after struggling in defeat to Villarreal 

Real Madrid struggled in their 2-1 loss against Villareal in their away La Liga clash on Saturday (January 7), and fans are not pleased with the players' efforts.

One player, however, whose performance stood out as being notably poor was Vinicius Junior. The Brazilian winger was unable to impact the game throughout his 90-minute spell on the pitch.

Vinicius lost possession 19 times, could complete none of his three attempted crosses, and missed one big chance.

Fans took to Twitter to slam the sub-par performance from the winger, singling him out for struggling against a team that Madrid were widely expected to see off. Here is a selection of tweets from unhappy fans:

Vinicius has been rather impressive for Real Madrid in recent seasons, racking up an impressive 17 goals and 10 assists in the previous La Liga campaign. He has nine goal contributions in 16 league appearances this season.

The Brazil international will be hoping to improve on this poor showing against Villareal as the rest of the season continues to unfold.

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Real Madrid manager Carlo Ancelotti opts to field all-international starting XI against Villareal

Real Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti made history by selecting a starting lineup without a single Spanish player for their La Liga match against Villarreal.

This is a significant departure from the team's usual approach, as the Madridistas have long been known for their strong Spanish influence. Instead, Ancelotti chose to field an international team featuring players from other countries.

Despite not having any Spanish players in their starting lineup, Madrid put up a strong fight against Villarreal. The Yellow Submarines had eight Spanish players in their starting XI. The match was closely contested, with both teams scoring goals.

Yeremi Pino scored first for Villarreal, but Karim Benzema equalized for Real Madrid with a penalty kick on the hour mark. However, Gerard Moreno quickly regained the lead for Villarreal with a penalty of his own, and Villarreal held on to win the match 2-1.

Ancelotti's decision to field an entirely non-Spanish team in this match will be remembered for years to come, despite the team's defeat. According to Opta, this was the first time in the 21st century that Madrid did not have any Spaniards in their starting lineup for a La Liga match.

Some sources (via 90 in) even claim that this was the first time in the club's 121-year history that no players born in Spain were included in the starting lineup.