Vinicius Junior’s opening goal for Real Madrid against Man City in the first leg of the Champions League semi-final has leveled a record of Cristiano Ronaldo.
Vinicius Jr is experiencing a top season at Real Madrid in excellent form, making great contributions in terms of both goals and assists.
In the meeting with Man City in the first leg of the Champions League semi-final, the Brazilian striker was the main character creating the opening goal for Real Madrid.
Everyone imagined Vinicius Jr facing Kyle Walker and doing his job on the left, but it turned out he appeared in the center to score. After a one-two combination with Luka Modric, Eduardo Camavinga darted up from behind, dribbled a long ball and passed it to Vini, who then unleashed a rocket-like shot past goalkeeper Ederson.
Vinicius Jr opened the scoring for Real Madrid with a shot from outside the box
This is the 10th game in a row that Vinicius Jr has contributed a goal (goal or assist) for Real Madrid, the longest streak of his career. But most impressive is that he has equaled Cristiano Ronaldo’s record by being directly involved in the goal in 11 consecutive Champions League matches for Real Madrid.
This series of achievements started from last season’s Champions League final where Vinicius Jr scored the only goal against Liverpool, then found the net of Celtic, assisted against RB Leipzig, scored in games against Shakhtar, RB Leipzig, Celtic, 2 goals and 1 assist against Liverpool, assists in matches against Liverpool, Chelsea (both first and second legs) and scored against Man City.
Vinicius Jr has 7 goals in the Champions League this season
Vinicius Jr now has seven Champions League goals this season, plus five assists, meaning he’s been directly involved in more goals than Erling Haaland (12 goals, 1 assist). For the whole season, he scored 23 goals and 21 assists.
With the latest goal, Vinicius Jr (22 years and 301 days) ranks third in the list of youngest South American players to score 15 goals in the Champions League, behind Lionel Messi in 2009 (21 years and 288 days) and Rodrygo in 2023. (22 years and 99 days).
