Carlo Ancelotti, the coach of Real Madrid, has called Vinicius Junior the “most decisive player in world football” after he helped his team beat Liverpool 5-2 in the Champions League on Tuesday.

Early on, Darwin Nunez’s and Mohamed Salah’s goals put Madrid behind 2-0. Salah’s goal came after a terrible mistake by Thibaut Courtois.

But Vinicius scored twice before halftime to tie the game. His first goal was a beautiful finish into the bottom right corner, and his second was a lucky goal where he blocked Alisson’s clearance into the net.

Then, just after halftime, he won the free kick that led to Madrid’s third goal and assisted Karim Benzema to make it 5-2.

Seven players from Europe’s top five leagues have been involved in more goals this season than Vinicius’s 27. However, Ancelotti doesn’t want to trade any of them for the Brazilian.

Ancelotti said of Vinicius, “Today, in my opinion, he is the most decisive player in world football.” Vinicius was the youngest away player to score twice against Liverpool at Anfield in a major European competition since Johan Cruyff in December 1966. He was 22 years and 224 days old.

“He doesn’t stop. He dribbles, assists, scores. Now he is the most decisive. Hopefully he can continue like this.”

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The game was very different from the last time these two teams played, in last year’s Champions League final, when Liverpool dominated but lost 1-0.

Ancelotti was told that Liverpool had changed a lot, or even gotten worse, since that game in Paris, but he wasn’t sure and tried to convince his players that the tie wasn’t over yet before the March 15 return leg.

“I only know that we have taken advantage in these 90 minutes and we have to manage the 90 in Madrid well,” Ancelotti stated.

“Liverpool are a very competitive team, who have created many problems for us. Unfortunately, the tie has not ended.

“They are still a great team, in my opinion. They play with intensity and a very high pace; it is difficult to see teams like that in Europe.

“They haven’t changed, but we proposed a game plan that was different from the one in the final. Then we played with a low block, and this time our plan was very different.”