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"He's a real troublemaker": FC Bayern Munich advised to draw up a special plan for Real Madrid's Vinicius Junior's suspension

If Christoph Kramer and Mats Hummels have their way, FC Bayern Munich should have a specific plan in place for Vinicius Junior in the first leg of their Champions League quarter-final against Real Madrid.

"Personally, I think the team are saying to themselves: 'Blimey, we really need to take him off for the return leg,'" speculated Kramer ahead of Tuesday evening’s match in his role as a TV pundit for Prime. The background: if Vinicius were to receive a yellow card in the first leg – it would be his third booking of the current Champions League season – he would be suspended for the quarter-final second leg in Munich next Wednesday.

"Because Vini Junior is a real provocateur, but above all, he lets himself be provoked," Kramer explained, suggesting that the Brazilian forward might be easily tempted into an action that would result in a yellow card. "You mustn’t pick up a yellow card against him early on; from the 80th minute onwards – if you haven’t got a yellow yet – then I’d go head-to-head with him and then we’d both get a yellow," suggested the former German international.
Kramer’s 2014 World Cup teammate Mats Hummels, also appearing as a Prime expert, interjected that he wouldn’t assign the task of provoking a yellow card for Vinicius to Konrad Laimer, as the Austrian is also facing a yellow card suspension. "You’ll need him for the second leg. I’d just have someone like Luis Díaz, Harry Kane or Olise – one of those lads – go head-to-head with him for a split second, and you’ll get the push for the yellow card in return. That’s set in stone," said Hummels.

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Real Madrid: Aurelien Tchouameni picks up a yellow card
Meanwhile, ahead of the match, Vinicius was by no means the only Real Madrid star whom manager Álvaro Arbeloa would have to do without had he picked up a yellow card in Tuesday’s second leg against Bayern. With Kylian Mbappé, Dean Huijsen, Álvaro Carreras and Aurélien Tchouameni, four other players from the Royals’ starting line-up were facing suspension for a second yellow card. The latter was already caught out in the first half; in the 37th minute, Tchouameni was shown a yellow card and will therefore be unable to play in Munich next week.
In addition, Jude Bellingham, who started on the bench, would also be suspended should he receive another booking.
Meanwhile, FCB manager Vincent Kompany has dismissed speculation that Bayern might actually be deliberately aiming for a yellow card suspension for Vinicius and co. “That cannot be a tactic,” the Belgian emphasised at Monday’s press conference. At the German record champions themselves, centre-back Dayot Upamecano is also at risk of missing the second leg through a yellow card suspension, alongside Laimer.

Real Madrid v Bayern Munich: The line-ups

Real Madrid line-up:

GOAL	Andriy Lunin
DEFENCE	Trent Alexander-Arnold, Antonio Rüdiger, Dean Huijsen, Alvaro Carreras
MIDFIELD	Fede Valverde, Aurelien Tchouameni, Thiago Pitarch, Arda Güler
ATTACK	Kylian Mbappé, Vinícius Júnior

FC Bayern line-up:

GOALKEEPER	Manuel Neuer
DEFENCE	Konrad Laimer, Dayot Upamecano, Jonathan Tah, Josip Stanisic
MIDFIELD	Joshua Kimmich, Aleksandar Pavlovic – Michael Olise, Serge Gnabry, Luis Diaz
ATTACK	Harry Kane