The FC Barcelona defenders really couldn't say they were surprised.

If there are goals with an announcement, then this was one: Toni Kroos waved, showed his hand the direction in which Vinicius Junior should start.

He then played the fatal pass through FC Barcelona's defence, the Brazilian sprinted into the penalty area and scored to make it 1-0.

It's been a while, in 2020 Real won that Clásico 2-0 at home but it marked the beginning of a successful collaboration between Kroos and the Brazilian.

A year later in the Champions League quarterfinals against Liverpool, Kroos didn't have to tell Vinicius Junior where to run.

Vinicius Junior ran off as fast as an arrow

The ball rolled safely through Madrid's defence, Vinicius Junior stood level with the center line, with Liverpool's back four in front of him, apparently without malicious intent.

Until Toni Kroos sent him on his way with a pass from 40 meters.

Vinicius Junior ran towards the opponent's goal with lightning speed, took the ball with his chest and shot it at full speed.

1-0 to Real Madrid, in the end Real won 3-1.

It's not always like that.

It would also be too easy if just putting two people on Vinicius Junior's feet was enough to prevent such counterattacks, and Kroos can't just circle his passes into the Brazilian's path.

But it would be good for Eintracht's chances of success in the Supercup against Real Madrid on Wednesday (9 p.m. / RTL and DAZN) if they knew how to prevent such moves.

Especially since Vinicius Junior has big plans.

"I want to get five or six champion titles here," he said in an interview published on the Uefa website.

The 22-year-old already secured the first in the summer with a 1-0 win over Liverpool in the Champions League final.

No bargain

When he joined Spain from Flamengo in 2018, he had just turned 18 and the transfer fee was €45m, not a bargain, but compared to the amounts paid in those years, it was rather small.

In the same summer, Real Madrid received 117 million euros from Turin for Cristiano Ronaldo.

But Vinicius Junior was not a ready-made player with a goal guarantee.

He was more of a rocket and difficult to separate from the ball, but mostly dribbled himself into goal.

He didn't see his teammates.

He also regularly got weak knees in front of the goal.

Vinicius Junior rarely played three seasons from the start, in his first season he scored seven goals, and he will probably book the two subsequent seasons as apprenticeship years.

A year after his commitment, Eden Hazard was also put in front of him as a left winger, apparently with a regular place guarantee.

But the Belgian got injured a lot and couldn't get past 66 appearances and six goals in three seasons.

Vinicius Junior, on the other hand, exploded last season.

Coach Ancelotti used him 52 times, mostly from the start, he scored 22 times and 20 assists show that he no longer completely loses sight of his team-mates.

It is noticeable that Vinicius Junior only got really good with Carlo Ancelotti.

The Italian coach exudes great composure and kindness, he treats the young players as if they were his sons, says Vinicius Junior.

Apparently he has not only matured, but now also feels the trust of his coach.

And that doesn't just apply to him.

Camavinga (19) and Rodrygo (21) have also become important pillars of the team over the past season.

"The future is already here," was the headline in the As sports newspaper about the boys in the Reals squad.

It is also noticeable that Vinicius Junior, in an interview published by Uefa in the context of the European Super Cup game, only briefly and when asked about the game in Helsinki.

The Supercup is an important title, says Vinicius succinctly, it is important to win as many games as possible.

"We will do everything we can to win the first title of the season." He never mentions the opponents of this game, Eintracht.

So you get the impression in Madrid that Real takes the Supercup seriously, but not really the opponent.

Ancelotti has stressed that Eintracht has long been in competitive mode, while Real are playing their first competitive game of the season in Helsinki.

But when Spanish newspapers report on Frankfurt, it's about the 1: 6 against Bayern.

However, there is also a warning in As.

The sports newspaper interviewed Richard Moar, former sports director of Deportivo La Coruña and Hannover 96 and now a scout at Eintracht.

It is by no means hopeless for the people of Frankfurt.

"Our young players are ambitious and have nothing to lose.

They are enormously motivated."

And maybe they learned from the game against Bayern and take better care that lightning-fast strikers like Vinicius Junior don't escape them this time.