Vinicius will win the Ballon d'Or, says Real Madrid coach Ancelotti | football

The Brazilian striker scored a hat-trick in Real Madrid's 5-2 win over Borussia Dortmund in the Champions League.

Real Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti has praised the “extraordinary” Vinicius Junior after the Brazilian striker scored a second-half hat-trick that helped them overturn a two-goal deficit and beat visiting Borussia Dortmund in the Champions League League with 5:2.

Ancelotti told a news conference he was convinced 24-year-old Vinicius would win the Ballon d'Or as the best player in the world.

“What I can say is that it is rare for a player to play a second half like Vinicius. And not because of the three goals, but because of his character; he is extraordinary,” Ancelotti said on Tuesday.

“Vinicius will win (the Ballon d'Or), not for what he did tonight but for what he did last year. These three goals will already count for next year's Ballon d'Or, that's for sure. He is a player who gets booed because he can make a difference.”

Ancelotti said in a replay of last season's final that there was no panic in the dressing room after Real went into half-time two goals down and that his team had the maturity and experience to understand what was going on they would have to do to get back.

“We lived it calmly and calmly (over the break). “We changed the system and came back to play more intensely,” Ancelotti said.

“Talking about scoring three goals maybe seemed utopian, so we talked about small details like good passing, winning tackles… We had to gain the momentum of the game and from there you start to close the game win.”

“We were shy in the first half, we weren't intense on the ball and in the second half we did better with more quality and 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 overtake us by two goals. I don’t think we can play 90 minutes with the intensity of the second half, but we can be more balanced.”