Carlo Ancelotti believes Vinicius Junior will scoop the Ballon d'Or this season after he netted a hat-trick in Real Madrid's 5-2 win over Borussia Dortmund on Tuesday. (More Football News)
In a repeat of their Champions League final in June, the Bundesliga outfit looked well on their way to exacting revenge at the Bernabeu when Donyell Malen and Jamie Gittens had them two goals up at the break.
However, Antonio Rudiger's header on the hour-mark sparked the turnaround, with Vinicius levelling the contest two minutes later to set up an enthralling conclusion.
With Lucas Vazquez completing the comeback, the Brazilian turned on the style in the closing stages, scoring twice to notch his third Los Blancos treble.
Vinicius is tipped to win the Ballon d'Or for his displays during Madrid's Champions League and LaLiga successes last year, with Ancelotti insisting it will be won by the 24-year-old.
"What I can say is that it's rare to see a player who plays a second half like Vinicius did," Ancelotti said.
"And not because of the three goals, but because of his character; he's extraordinary.
"Vinicius is going to win (the Ballon d'Or), not for what he did tonight, but for what he did last year.
"These three goals are already going to count for next year's Ballon d'Or, that's for sure. He is a player who gets whistled at because he can make a difference."
Since the start of last season, Vinicius has 50 goal involvements (32 goals, 18 assists) in 53 games in all competitions for Madrid.
But the result looked beyond doubt after a poor first half showing, with Ancelotti's men only managing one shot on target from the nine efforts they attempted.
However, after the interval, Los Blancos took control. They registered a mammoth expected goals (xG) total of 2.41 to Dortmund's 0.09 in the second half.
The victory saw Madrid win a match in the Champions League in which they trailed by two goals at the break for the first time, with Ancelotti revealing there was no panic among his players in the dressing room at half-time.
"We lived it calmly, calmly (over the break). We changed the system and came back playing more intensely," Ancelotti said.
"Talking about scoring three goals might have seemed utopian, so we talked about small details like passing well, winning duels.
We had to win the dynamic of the game and from there you start to win the game.
"We were timid in the first half, we weren't intense on the ball and in the second half we did better with more quality, more pressure.
It was the best second half of the season.
"We have to learn from what we did in the second half. The aim is to start the game and not wait for them to put two past us.
"I don't think we can play 90 minutes with the intensity of the second half but we can be more balanced."
