Vinicius Jr.ās attempt from the spot was denied by Gianluigi Donnarumma in the first leg of the round of 16 matchup between Real Madrid and Manchester City in the 2025-26 UEFA Champions League.
It looks like the scoring fun belongs entirely to Federico Valverde. After being fouled by Donnarumma inside the penalty box, Vinicius had an unbeatable chance to put his name in the score sheet. However, his attempt was too weak and not high enough to beat the Italian goalkeeper. As a result, Real Madrid remained up 3-0 over Man. City in the first leg of the UEFA Champions Leagueās round of 16.
Right now, it seems like the two-legged duel is already decided. But much can change. Perhaps, āLa Casa Blancaā will come back to lament Viniās crucial miss. If Manchester City can mount a comebackātonight or next week at their homeāfans in Madrid will surely look back to this penalty miss as a huge turning point.
Vinicius Jr. apologizes for missed penalty shot
As soon as he made contact with the football, Vini realized his shot wasnāt going to make it past Donnarumma. The Citizensā goalkeeper correctly guessed Viniciusā intentions, and his massive 6ā5ā³ (1.96m) frame allowed him to reach his left post in time.
After the miss in the 58th minute, Vinicius immediately apologized to the fans in the stands at the Santiago Bernabeu. The Brazilian star raised his left hand while resting his right hand over his heart in a universal, unspoken gesture of asking for forgiveness.
see also
Valverdeās first-half hat-trick sees him join Messi on list Ronaldo isnāt part of
Vinicius missed his second penalty in Champions League
According to soccer statistician Mister Chip (@2010MisterChip on X), VinĆcius JĆŗnior missed his second penalty in the UEFA Champions League during the March 11, 2026, clash against Manchester City.
With this miss, Vini has now tied Cristiano Ronaldoās mark of two missed penalties for Real Madrid in Europeās most prestigious competition. However, the Brazilian has scored 2 of 4 attempts (50% success rate), whereas the Portuguese icon netted 14 of 16 penalty shots (87.5% scoring rate) for Real Madrid in the Champions League.
