Real Madrid: Rodrygo is well on his way to stardom

Real Madrid right winger Rodrygo Goes had a reduced role in the second half of the 2019-2020 season, but the teenager showed he is well on his way to stardom at the Santiago Bernabeu.

Madridistas will replay Rodrygo Goes’ debut goal in their heads for years and years to come. Real Madrid were up 1-0 on Osasuna, who had one of the league’s best defenses at the time, but they needed one more goal to truly feel safe.

Enter Rodrygo. The summer signing from Santos took the pitch for his La Liga debut, and, in seconds, he scored. Rodrygo secured a long ball from Casemiro beautifully, annihilated the Osasuna defense, and stroked the ball calmly past the keeper as if he had done this hundreds of times at the Santiago Bernabeu.

The goal was the second-fastest debut strike in Real Madrid history, behind only legendary No. 9 Ronaldo. It was a finish of the highest-order, with Rodrygo producing magic from nothing.

Rodrygo wasn’t done there. He finished the Champions League campaign with four goals in 270 minutes, tying striker Karim Benzema for the team lead in goals in the competition despite being a debuting 18-year-old who received nearly 300 fewer minutes than the legendary forward. Out of those four goals, three of them came on the same night when Rodrygo scored a perfect hat-trick against Galatasaray.

Despite his incredible first half of the season, Zinedine Zidane and Real Madrid didn’t want to put too much on the youngster’s plate in his first season with the club. They wanted to ease the prospect along, managing his pressure and stress, knowing that they saw enough world-class potential. At Castilla, Rodrygo is on another level from everyone else around him, as he’s increasing his confidence and tactical awareness in the Real Madrid system.

Rodrygo could have a breakout season in 2020-2021, but even if he doesn’t, Los Merengues won’t be concerned one bit. They know they have a long-term star in Rodrygo, whose intelligence off the ball, technical quality, finishing, and movement in the final third are indeed special. The 19-year-old Santos product is a one-of-a-kind forward prospect who can be the kind of global superstar Florentino Perez is hoping to land when he invests 30-50 million euros in Brazil’s best young stars.

The raw data is certainly impressive. An average of two goals and assists per 90 minutes in the Champions League jumps off the page. In La Liga, he led all Madrid forwards in his percentage of shots on target and was only beaten by Eden Hazard and Vinicius Junior in progressive distance with the ball, per FBRef.com.

Patience is crucial with Rodrygo, but Real Madrid should have an understanding that he can reach great heights at the Bernabeu in a few years’ time.