Vinicius Junior created danger on several occasions on Sunday night against Rayo Vallecano, but on the whole, the impression was that he was dealt with relatively well. An impression that becomes even more impressive with the knowledge that it was Andrei Ratiu’s debut for Rayo, and debut in La Liga.
The 25-year-old Romanian has 12 international caps and a goal, but had never played in the top flight in Spain previously. Moving to Teruel in Aragon at the age of six, Ratiu ended up coming through the academy system at Villarreal, but struggled to make it at the Yellow Submarine. After a loan spell at ADO Den Hag in the Netherlands, two seasons ago he moved back to Aragon and Huesca on a free.
The quickest player in Segunda, as per Marca, this summer Rayo brought him in for €500k, but with regular Ivan Balliu starting ahead of him, he was thrust into action by an injury on the biggest stage at the Santiago Bernabeu.
He demonstrated that pace in open play, outpacing Vinicius in a footrace to gather the ball in defence, while also leaving Jude Bellingham for dead with the ball too.
Jude Bellingham got his ankles broken by Andrei Ratiu 🫣🇷🇴pic.twitter.com/VDwn3AHyw0
— LaLigaExtra (@LaLigaExtra) November 5, 2023
While he was far from perfect, he did make four tackles and two clearances, clearly preventing Vinicius from any clear chances all night, and frustrating the Brazilian as Real Madrid’s efforts went unrewarded. Vinicius managed just two shots off target all match.
Ratiu showed at the very least that he is not afraid of the big occasion, and in debuting directly opposite Vinicius, he could not have had a harder task. Francisco will be delighted with how he handled it.
