Real Madrid: Vinicius Junior was among La Liga’s most effective dribblers
Real Madrid forward Vinicius Junior is already one of La Liga’s best.
Next season, when Eden Hazard is fully healthy, Vinicius Junior won’t be a regular starter for Real Madrid. He’s at his best on the left side of the formation, but that’s where Hazard reigns supreme as a top 2019 summer signing. However, hopefully Vinicius will still be able to maintain a significant role in the squad, since he was also exceptional in 2019-2020.
When the 2019-2020 La Liga season returns, Vinicius will continue to be a key player for Real Madrid. He filled in wonderfully for Hazard whenever the Belgian superstar was injured, including leading Real to a 2-0 victory over bitter rivals Barcelona in the season’s second Clasico.
Vinicius worked hard up and down the left flank, making the left wing his home in the second half of the season. He was a game-changing substitution against Atletico Madrid in El Derbi, creating the goal that Ferland Mendy assisted for Karim Benzema.
More from The Real Champs
- The Xabi Factor: What Alonso could bring to Real Madrid as manager
- Manchester City hold talks over Real Madrid target
- Real Madrid player confirms he is playing with a fracture
- Real Madrid superstar rejected Premier League clubs confirmed
- Spaniard ready to join Real Madrid instead of Liverpool
All season long, Vinicius confidently took on defenders with great skill and agility, producing chances for himself and teammates out of nothing. At 19 years old, Vinicius will only get better, turning those chances into goals and assists on the stat sheet.
But the analytics already show that Vinicius is among La Liga’s most prolific players, especially in statistics specific to dribbling ability.
Per FBRef.com, no player with a minimum of 900 minutes played in La Liga in 2019-2020 had more progressive distance carried with the ball than Vinicius per 90 minutes.
And among players with at least 700 minutes played, only teammate Eden Hazard had him beat. Vini’s 306.2 yards carried per 90 minutes even bested Lionel Messi’s!
In terms of successful dribbles completed per 90 minutes, Vinicius Junior was second to only Messi himself in this category. The Real Madrid prospect averaged 3.76 successful dribbles per 90 minutes, beating out even Hazard in this category when extending the qualifiers to a minimum of 700 minutes.
Vinicius still has some improvements in terms of consistency, as his success rate of under 50 percent was far below Messi’s and Hazard’s, who were both over 60 percent. But Hazard and Messi are also established superstars who are quite literally the best dribblers of their generation.
Next. Ranking Real Madrid's top 10 players. dark
That means Vinicius is in great company as a teenager for Real Madrid. He’s taken on the pressure of being a key player for Los Blancos and has thrived, showing incredible determination and hard work to help his teammates. As he grows, the consistency and overall statistical dominance will follow, but he’s already a player worth praising highly.