Courtois: Vinicius has no fear – he reminds me of Hazard

Vinicius Junior

The 18-year-old Brazilian scored his first La Liga goal in a 3-0 win over Alaves on Sunday, having made a £38.7 million move from Flamengo last summer.

And Belgium goalkeeper Courtois, who switched Stamford Bridge for the Bernabeu at the start of the season, has been impressed by his teenage team-mate.

“He does remind me of someone – Eden Hazard,” Courtois told reporters in Spain.

“He has so much self-confidence and belief at his age, and he plays boldly and without fear, so they are very similar.”

Madrid have now won four league games in a row and sit in third place in La Liga, two points behind city rivals Atletico but eight adrift of leaders Barcelona.

“This victory (over Alaves) is important because they defend well and are a tough opponent, so we are happy,” Courtois said.

“We are now in a good run of form but we are happy to be in a winning run; we have won every game since Real Sociedad and even then we deserved to win.

“Now there is an important run of games… the Copa, the game against Atletico and the Champions League.”

Alasdair Mackenzie is a freelance journalist based in Rome, and a FourFourTwo contributor since 2015. When not pulling on the FFT shirt, he can be found at Reuters, The Times and the i. An Italophile since growing up on a diet of Football Italia on Channel 4, he now counts himself among thousands of fans sharing a passion for Ross County and Lazio.