The impressive stat that places Vinicius JR above the likes of Raul and Butragueno

Patience has never been a word to coexist within a Real Madrid context. Vinicius Junior, since the age of 18, has been put on an accelerated path burdened by the pressures of the Madrid faithful. Some of his loudest critics felt that the Brazilian would never become a goal-scorer nor would he add that “end product” to his game. Yet, the 21-year-old is proving the nay-sayers wrong at the start of the new La Liga campaign. In five matches, he has scored five goals and produced two assists. The turnaround in form has been astounding and there is one statistic in particular that stands out from the rest.

According to Mister Chip, a Spanish language historical statistics account, no Real Madrid player as young as Vinicius (21) has scored five goals in the first five match days of the La Liga season. The last player to achieve such a feat was Ramon Grosso in 1964. Not Butragueno nor even Raul, who debut with the first team at the age of 17, ever achieved such a feat.

The key now for Vinicius Junior will be to prove that he can sustain this goal-scoring form over the course of a full season. Raul and Butragueno may never have scored five goals in the first five match days as a young player, but they were consistently amongst those strikers vying for the Pichichi trophy at the end of the season. Providing a double digit goal return will be the next challenge for the young Brazilian.