By virtue of his perfect blend of technique, pace and goalscoring prowess, there cannot be many defenders that Real Madrid and Brazil ace Vinicius Jr fears – but, over the years, the wide man has named three of the toughest opponents of his career.
That’s right, even someone as gifted and talented as the 2025 Ballon d’Or hopeful – who is widely regarded as one of the best wingers in world football right now – endures the odd tricky day at the office, albeit once in a blue moon.
Vinicius has now spent seven years in the fabled white of Los Blancos and has, as a result, faced some of the most robust defenders that football has to offer – from Ruben Dias to Thiago Silva, but neither were named as one of his toughest opponents.
Per SPORT in 2023, the 37-cap, five-goal Brazil international named Barcelona’s Ronald Araujo as the ‘best defender’ he has had the displeasure of facing, which they have done so on 12 occasions between their first meeting in 20/21 and now.
Citing the Uruguayan central defender's brute strength, Vinicius insisted that his talent is exactly why he plays for one of the biggest teams in world football in Barcelona. Per The Sun, the 24-year-old said:
The best defender I have ever faced is Araujo. He's very strong and very good. That's why he plays for Barca.
Vinicius and Araujo have engaged in plenty of captivating duels, often in the bi-annual El Clasico, over the years – but their record against one another is six wins apiece.
A custom image of Vinicius Junior, Jude Bellingham and Pedri Related
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Manchester United-linked Araujo, 26, moved to the Spanish giants in 2018 and graduated to senior proceedings two years later – since, he’s become pivotal to their success and, in that time, has accrued north of 150 appearances.
Previously, however, Vinicius had waxed poetic about two present-day England internationals – Chelsea captain Reece James and Manchester City loanee Kyle Walker – while speaking to SPORTbible in 2022.
I've played against a lot of them and the most difficult opponents were Chelsea's [Reece] James and [Kyle] Walker, of Manchester City.
In terms of the former, the injury-prone Englishman has been tasked with marking the tricky Vinicius on four occasions. The latter has reigned victorious three times; that said, he’s failed to score in any of their previous meetings.
Walker’s sheer pace is enough to strike fear into football’s deadliest forwards – and Vinicius has been subject to that six times. He’s won 50% of his encounters against the former Tottenham Hotspur ace, who is recognised as one of the greatest right-backs in football history.