Real Madrid superstar Vinicius Jr slams ‘crazy calendar’ after being ruled out of Champions League showdown with Liverpool

Vinicius Jr has hit out at the ‘crazy’ football schedule after suffering an injury setback over the weekend.

The Real Madrid forward picked up a hamstring injury during his side’s 3-0 LaLiga win over Leganes, and is now expected to be sidelined for around three weeks.

This means he will miss Madrid’s trip to Anfield to face Liverpool on Wednesday night, and the Brazilian has blamed his latest injury on playing too many matches.

‘The crazy calendar… Time to recover!’ Vinicius Jr wrote on X on Monday evening.

The 24-year-old has played 22 matches for club and country this season, and faces the prospect of playing approximately 70 by the end of the campaign if Madrid reach the latter stages of the major competitions, with the newly-expanded Club World Cup also set to take place next summer.

He missed Brazil’s October internationals with a back problem, and is now dealing with a hamstring issue, which leaves him in a race against time to be fit for the Intercontinental Cup final on December 18.

The Brazilian winger is expected to miss the next three weeks of action with a hamstring issue

Vinicius Jr’s complaints come just hours after Madrid club president Florentino Perez also took aim at the current football schedule

Vinicius Jr’s complaint comes just hours after Madrid club president Florentino Perez accused football’s governing bodies of ‘putting the health of players at risk’.

‘The calendar is linked to an alarming increase in injuries,’ Perez said earlier this week. ‘UEFA and FIFA have added 14 matches of their own, equivalent to two and a half months of competition.

‘In total we have had 14 matches and 22 injuries. We (have) already (had) nine cruciate injuries (in LaLiga). At Madrid, we have suffered seven cruciate injuries in the last 12 months. They are mainly caused by fatigue, according to the doctors consulted. 

‘This year the calendar has been busier than ever. It is striking that a player like Jude Bellingham has played 251 games. To make a comparison at his age, David Beckham had played 54 games.’

Vinicius Jr is also not the only player to raise concerns over the football calendar in recent months.

Manchester City midfielder Rodri – who controversially beat Vinicius Jr to the Ballon d’Or last month – claimed in September that players were ‘close’ to striking due to more matches being added to the schedule.

He subsequently suffered a season-ending knee injury just days later in City’s 2-2 draw with Arsenal.

Vinicius Jr’s international team-mate Alisson has also spoken out about playing too many games, and he is currently sidelined due to injury.

Vinicius Jr is expected to miss at least three LaLiga matches as Madrid aim to catch league leaders Barcelona, while he could sit out of his team’s next two Champions League matches with Liverpool and Atalanta.

The defending champions still have work to do to qualify for the knockout stages of the Champions League after losing two of their opening four games this term to leave them 18th in the 36-team table.