Vinicius Junior has achieved the milestone of 300 appearances for Real Madrid. But how does his achievement with the Spanish giants compare to that of the legendary Cristiano Ronaldo at the same point?
The two legends of Real Madrid never featured on the pitch together. Los Blancos confirmed the acquisition of Vinicius from Flamengo for a historic £38million fee for an Under-18 player in 2017, yet he only reached The Bernabeu in the summer of 2018 – the same time Ronaldo departed for Juventus.
Vinicius first came as an unpolished gem, and it has taken time for him to evolve into one of the top players globally.
However, he has developed into one of the top stars of Carlo Ancelotti’s triumphant Madrid team. He was arguably their top performer last season as they achieved a historic La Liga and Champions League double, concluding his finest campaign thus far with a goal in the Champions League final win against Borussia Dortmund.
Following such an outstanding season, Vinicius was regarded as the leading candidate for last year's Ballon d'Or – only to controversially end up as the runner-up to Rodri.
“From my perspective, Vinicius was worthy of winning the Golden Ball [Ballon d’Or award],” Ronaldo stated.
"I believe it was unjust." I declare this openly in front of everyone. They handed it to Rodri, who also deserved it, but it should have gone to Vinícius since he won the Champions League and scored in the final.
“When Cristiano claims that I am the best player in the world, I take his word for it,” Vinicius replied as he accepted his Best Player award at the Globe Soccer Awards event in Dubai.
“For me, it’s both a privilege and a joy to be present with Ronaldo and Neymar, my greatest heroes.”
Ronaldo initially joined Real Madrid during a different phase of his career. He had nearly attained the height of his abilities at Manchester United, having won the Ballon d'Or for his key contribution to the Red Devils' 2008 Champions League victory.
It’s important to note that Ronaldo was 24 years old when he joined Madrid in the summer of 2009, which is the same age Vinicius is currently.
The Portugal international secured another four Ballon d’Or awards and four Champions League titles during his iconic nine-year tenure in the Spanish capital, where he became the all-time leading scorer for the La Liga club with 450 goals in only 438 appearances across all competitions.
The figures show a significant gap, as Ronaldo has scored more than three times the goals Vinicius has achieved after 300 matches. He has also tallied more assists.
However, Vinicius has, in fact, won more trophies at this point in his Madrid career. He has secured three La Liga championships and two Champions League trophies, while by the moment of his 300th game for Madrid in May 2015, Ronaldo had claimed just one Champions League and one La Liga championship. Of course, additional events would occur in the coming years.
Here’s a comparison of Vinicius Junior and Cristiano Ronaldo after reaching the same milestone of 300 games:
Vinícius Júnior
Games: 300
Goals: 102
Assists: 102
Penalties: 7
Contributions to goals: 176
21263 minutes [+90]
Minutes for each goal: 209
Minutes for each non-penalty goal: 224
Minutes for each goal or assist: 121
Trophies achieved: 16: La Liga x 3, Copa del Rey x 1, Supercopa de España x 3, UEFA Champions League x 2, UEFA Super Cup x 2, FIFA Club World Cup x 2, FIFA Intercontinental Cup x 1
Cristiano Ronaldo
Games: 300
Goals: 313
Assist: 86
Contributions to goals: 399
Penalties: 57
Minutes for each goal: 82
Minutes for each non-penalty goal: 100
Minutes for each goal or assist: 64
Trophies achieved: 7: La Liga x 1, Copa del Rey x 2, Supercopa de España x 1, UEFA Champions League x 1, UEFA Super Cup x 1, FIFA Club World Cup x 1
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