Vinicius dazzles in debut loss to MU

Real Madrid coach Julen Lopetegui was pleased with Vinicius Junior's debut as the teenage sensation dazzled in Tuesday's loss to Manchester United.

Madrid's era without all-time leading scorer Cristiano Ronaldo and head coach Zinedine Zidane started in Miami, where new boss Lopetegui oversaw a 2-1 defeat to United at the International Champions Cup courtesy of first-half strikes from Alexis Sanchez and Ander Herrera.

However there were plenty of positives, including the performance of 18-year-old Brazilian Vinicius, who showed glimpses of his potential after arriving from Flamengo in a €45million deal.

"He played a good game. He has gone from less to more, just like the rest of the team," Lopetegui said afterwards. "He started a little shy, but then he came on in leaps and bounds."

"He is very young and has to adapt to this style of football and what we ask of players. I thought he played a good game."

Madrid have won three successive Champions League titles but Lopetegui has high hopes as he attempts to build his new side around Gareth Bale following Ronaldo's move to Juventus.

"I am delighted with the team I have here. We have the challenge of reinventing the team without a player such as Cristiano Ronaldo. I want to make this team even better than before," Lopetegui continued. "We have a squad full of excellent players, including Bale."

Brazil legend Zico also had some input, saying Vinicius had all the qualities to become one of the world's best but would need to work on his shooting ability.

"In any activity, the secret is in the work. Nobody is born knowing, we are born with a gift and the gift is improved," Zico told Marca. "Certain situations can be perfected, mainly certain fundamental aspects of playing football and Vinícius needs to improve his shooting ability a lot.

"Using the front of the foot is not his strong point, you cannot simply shoot using only one type of shot all the time."

Nevertheless, Zico believes that Vincius could become one of the world's best.

"He's very talented, he's a player who, I have no doubt, can evolve a lot more. I just hope he does not lose his Brazilian roots," he continued. "What makes Vinicius different is what made Neymar different: the one-on-ones, the ability and the intelligence to get out of a difficult situation. We are happy to see the talent that he has already begun to show and, right now, it seems the investment made for him was correct."