"Always me! I'm leaving the team! I'm leaving!" Vinicius said as he walked off the field and straight down the tunnel. "It's better if I leave, I'm leaving." At this stage, that might well be for the best for everyone concerned, because Vinicius' shameful show of insubordination wasn't the least bit shocking.
On the contrary, it was entirely in keeping with his combustible character, just another temper tantrum from a player who is now effectively refusing to sign a new contract with the club if Alonso is allowed to continue as coach. Is this, then, a power play likely to pay off for Vinicius? Or might Madrid decide that he's become more trouble than he's worth?...
The Ballon d'or debacle
The Ballon d'or debacle
Not so long ago Madrid were willing to tolerate Vinicius' egotistical behaviour - and sometimes even support it.
The winger was utterly convinced he was going to win last year's Ballon d'Or and even brought up his seemingly imminent triumph during a heated exchange with Gavi towards the tail end of Madrid's 4-0 loss to Barcelona just two days before the ceremony in Paris.
It was a rather revealing insight into his mindset. Vinicius clearly felt that boasting about his Ballon d'Or bid while his team were being humiliated on home soil by their most hated rivals was some kind of zinger; that individual glory was somehow more significant than collective failure in a team game like football. But the joke was on the Brazilian - because Vinicius didn't win the Ballon d'Or, and he took it very, very badly.
Even though Rodri made for a most deserving winner of the 2024 Ballon d'Or, Vinicius refused to attend the Manchester City midfielder's coronation.
Of course, not a single representative from Real Madrid turned up either. "It is obvious that the Ballon d'Or and UEFA do not respect Real Madrid," an unnamed source told AS. "And Real Madrid is not where it is not respected."
As hissy fits go, it was pretty hysterical, the unintentional irony almost overwhelming. Madrid and Vinicius felt disrespected - and yet it was they who had disrespected Rodri.
Still, at least a Ballon d'Or boycott was something that los Blancos could easily get behind. Vinicius' very obvious personality clash with Alonso is far more problematic for Florentino Perez & Co.
The arrival of Alonso
The arrival of Alonso
Alonso is a likeable leader - as Bayer Leverkusen double-winners would attest - but the Spaniard does not have anything like the same laissez-faire approach to man-management or team tactics as his predecessor as Madrid manager, Carlo Ancelotti, whose father-like relationship with Vinicius and the other Brazilians in the Bernabeu dressing room undoubtedly played a part in the Italian's appointment as Selecao coach.
Consequently, the arrival of Alonso was always likely to ruffle some feathers at Real - at least initially - but that wasn't considered a bad thing. The feeling was that after a disastrous final season under Ancelotti, Madrid's superstars would benefit from less freedom and more structure.
Kylian Mbappe is certainly thriving under the new boss. The Frenchman won the European Golden Shoe last year, with 31 goals in 34 Liga games, but his strike-rate has actually improved this season, while there's also a greater dynamism about his all-round play.
Mbappe is now, without a shadow of a doubt, the leader of Madrid's attack, as well the club's poster-boy - which was Perez's plan all along. It's why he invested so much time, money and effort in convincing Mbappe to leave Paris Saint-Germain for Madrid.
The knock-on effect, though, is that Vinicius no longer feels as appreciated as he once did at the Bernabeu.
