Man City defender confronts Vinicius

In the first leg, Walker was coached by Pep Guardiola as the main kick to deal with Vinicius' speed. The Brazilian striker did not play explosively as usual before Walker's interception, but still flashed with a cannon shot from outside the box that opened the scoring in the 36th minute. After the game, Walker laughed, had a conversation. short and even embracing Vinicius.

Before the rematch at the Etihad today, when asked the reason behind this hug, Walker half jokingly said that he had sent a warning to the Real striker.

"I went to hug Vinicius because he was trying to get the ball over my head," the English defender said on May 16 at a pre-match press conference. "I said don't do it, because I don't want to be the laughing stock on social media. We had a good fight, and I have a lot of respect for Vinicius. After finishing a match like that, you need to show off. But that will stop when the referee blows the whistle to start tomorrow's game."

Vinicius has been one of Europe's top performers this season, with 23 goals and 21 assists in 53 games in all competitions. The Brazilian striker also repeatedly made the opponent's defender feel "hot" with his dribbling and technical demonstrations.

But Walker is not afraid of this style of play of the 22-year-old striker and emphasizes that he has faced more difficult challenges on the pitch. "I would not say Vinicius has a provocative play," he expressed. "But Vinicius is a good player and does what needs to be done to help the home team. I try not to pay attention to people who try to irritate me or say rubbish."

Walker is confident that he can contain Vinicius like when he faced Kylian Mbappe in the quarter-finals of the 2022 World Cup between England and France. That day, Mbappe was dead, but France won 2-1 thanks to Olivier Giroud and Aurelien Tchouameni. "If I can't compete with these top players, I shouldn't be here. I need to make sure I'm up against the best and can deal with the best," Walker insisted.

In April, Guardiola said Walker "didn't have the right movements" to play the full-back and holding midfield role and lost his spot to John Stones. Therefore, the 32-year-old defender only had three starts in the two months from February to April.

Walker admitted to feeling "painful" when he heard the Spanish teacher's statements. "I can't sit here lying that it didn't hurt me," he admitted. "I started to doubt myself, but you have to go back to basics and your strengths. I have to do the things that led Guardiola to recruit me and prove him wrong. That's what I did. do".

Walker returned to the main squad in five of the last six matches in the Premier League besides the Champions League semi-final first leg. According to British newspaper Sportmail, with Nathan Ake certainly absent, like the first leg, Guardiola will continue to use the back four of Manuel Akanji, Ruben Dias, Stones and Walker in the rematch at the Etihad today.