Vinicius delighted to silence the doubters by scoring twice against Liverpool

Vinicius Junior was pleased to finally deliver on the biggest stage with a brace against Liverpool and silence the doubters who claimed he lacked the bottle to succeed at Real Madrid.

The 20-year-old Brazilian scored twice as the Spanish giants punished a sloppy Liverpool to win 3-1 at home in Tuesday's Champions League quarter-final first leg.

Vinicius fired the home side ahead into the lead in the 27th minute at the Alfredo di Stefano stadium after controlling a long diagonal pass from Toni Kroos from his own half which flummoxed the Liverpool defence.

Marco Asensio put the hosts further at ease by scoring in the 35th after a Kroos pass again caused havoc among the visiting backline but Liverpool looked more settled after the interval and a scrappy Mohamed Salah strike pulled them back into contention early in the second half.

But they failed to build on their momentum and Vinicius, who has a reputation for thrilling play but a lack of composure in front of goal, struck again in the 63rd minute, blasting past Liverpool keeper Alisson after clever combination play between Karim Benzema and Luka Modric.

Asensio missed a clear chance to grab Madrid's fourth goal, while Liverpool threatened late on.

Yet the visitors were unable to find a second away goal to take back with them to Anfield next Wednesday and the game ended with the same scoreline as in the 2018 Champions League final.

Afterwards Vinicius said: "The people on the outside can keep talking but I kept on working, that gave me the strength to rise to an important occasion and get the goals we needed.

“It’s very nice to win, at the best moment of the season,” Vinicius said post-match in comments carried by Marca. "I work a lot, I’ve always dreamed of playing for Madrid and I think that because of the desire I’ve had all season, at the club and with my family, I always want the best for our fans.