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Manchester City star Kyle Walker reveals a comical moment between himself and Vinicius in their Champions League semi-final first-leg encounter.
Kyle Walker and Vinicius Junior had an interesting, heated, but respectful battle in the UEFA Champions League semi-final first-leg match between Manchester City and Real Madrid, and the England international has now revealed some of the content of their exchanges.
Walker's job on Vinicius
The former Tottenham man started at right-back for Pep Guardiola's side, tasked with stopping one of the most deadly left-side attackers in football, Vinicius.
Despite doing a good job keeping the Brazilian international at bay, the winger scored a brilliant goal to put Madrid ahead.
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Vinicius also managed to dribble past Walker once, but other than that, the Englishman showed impressive tackling ability and recovery pace.
What Walker said
Despite the heated battle, both players were seen in a cheerful mood after the game, showing respect and admiration for one another.
Prior to that, however, at a moment in the game, Walker was seen going to hug Vinicius. The right-back has now explained why.
Walker thwarted a rainbow flick attempt by the Brazilian before the incident. He explained that he went to meet him to plead with him not to do that anymore, as he would not like to be used as an internet meme.
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"I went to hug because he tried to rainbow flick me! I said please don't try that again because I don't want to be a meme or anything,” he said, per the BBC.
"I think boxers, they fight and then they shake hands after - and that's the level of respect I do have for him. Same as any other player. I feel when it is a good game, you go and have that level of respect because they deserve it.”
Manchester City host Real Madrid tomorrow in the second-leg of the clash at the Etihad Stadium as they look to reach their second-ever Champions League final.
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