It felt like being the saga of the summer but, in the end, it appeared as though it was never in doubt that Vinícius Júnior would remain a Real Madrid player. Despite serious interest from Premier League champions Arsenal, the Brazilian has signed a new six-year contract with los Blancos, stating "eight years at the Bernabéu is too short...six more years and forever".
Thus, the 26 year old will be key as José Mourinho's team target glory in both the Champions League and La Liga. In UEFA competition is perhaps where we have seen the best of Vini Jr in a Real Madrid shirt. Thus, by the end of the campaign, could he surpass an all-time Champions League record?
Right now, Vinícius has 32 Champions League assists to his name, which leaves him fifth on the all-time list, alongside some of the best players the competition has ever seen.
Players with the most UEFA Champions League assists in history
Players | UCL assists |
|---|---|
Cristiano Ronaldo | 42 |
Ángel Di María | 41 |
Lionel Messi | 40 |
Neymar Jr | 33 |
Vinícius Júnior | 32 |
Kevin De Bruyne | 31 |
Ryan Giggs | 31 |
Xavi Hernández | 30 |
Thomas Müller | 30 |
Karim Benzema | 29 |
Andrés Iniesta | 29 |
Note: Statistics courtesy of UEFA.
Of the top ten Champions League assist providers of all-time, four have played for Real Madrid, which should not be too surprising considering how successful los Merengues have been in the competition over an extended period. For Vini Jr specifically, he requires just one more to match Neymar's all-time tally of 33, ten behind Cristiano Ronaldo's tournament record of 42.
So, when could Vinícius realistically overtake Ronaldo? Well, let's look back at his Champions League assists by season to find out.
Vinícius Júnior Champions League goals and assists by season
Season | Vini UCL goals | Vini UCL assists |
|---|---|---|
2018/19 | Zero | 2 |
2019/20 | 1 | 1 |
2020/21 | 3 | 2 |
2021/22 | 4 | 7 |
2022/23 | 7 | 5 |
2023/24 | 6 | 5 |
2024/25 | 8 | 3 |
2025/26 | 5 | 8 |
Note: Statistics courtesy of Transfermarkt.
Last season was Vinícius' most productive in terms of assists, breaking his previous record set in 2021/22 when Carlo Ancelotti's team won the competition and the Brazilian was the match-winner in the final in Paris against Liverpool.
In the most recent campaign, on top of five goals, Vini Jr racked up eight assists, including two away at Olympiacos, as well as a hat-trick of assists during the 6-1 demolition of Monaco. That night at the Bernabéu, he set up both Kylian Mbappé and Franco Mastantuono, as well as an own goal.
However, it seems unlikely that Vinícius will catch Ronaldo this season, especially considering the single-season Champions League assist record is nine, held by James Milner of all people, set in 2017/18. Nevertheless, with the expanded league phase, creating more matches and letting in a few lower quality teams, there will be opportunties for the Brazilian to rack up the numbers.
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