Vinicius Junior's transformation this campaign can be attributed in part to the private training sessions undertaken with Zinedine Zidane to help revive his flagging Real Madrid career.
The Brazilian, 20, had struggled to make the desired impact since arriving from Flamengo in a deal worth £38m in 2018, with tunnel footage last October showing Karim Benzema telling team-mates not to pass the ball to the youngster.
'Don't play with him. On my mother's life, he [Vinicius] is playing against us. He does not do anything useful,' Benzema reportedly told Ferland Mendy, who replied: 'When he becomes scared, he loses what makes him great.'
However, the 20-year-old is now enjoying his strongest season with Los Blancos, having bagged six goals and six assists for the Spanish giants.
Vinicius' revival was on full display in Madrid's Champions League quarter final first leg victory over Liverpool, in which the Brazilian scored twice to help send Zidane's side on their way to a last four tie with Chelsea.
And according to L'Equipe via Cuatro, the support of Vinicius' family, as well as private coaching tutorials from Zidane, has kickstarted the youngster's career in the Spanish capital.
After group training sessions were completed, Vinicius would stay behind with Zidane, who made an effort to correct and improve the Brazilian's influence in the final third.
As a result, the 20-year-old's decision making has seen a marked improvement while Vinicius' countryman and team-mate Rodrygo is now taking part on the tailor-made training sessions.
While VInicius played a starring role in the first leg against Liverpool, he was forced to help Madrid forge an impenetrable path to goal in the second leg at Anfield on Wednesday night as the Reds drew blank, failing to overturn their two-goal deficit.
Madrid boss Zidane will hope that Vinicius can have a big influence as Los Blancos hunt down Atletico Madrid in the race for the LaLiga title, while the 13-time European champions prepare for their crunch semi final tie with Chelsea.
