Real Madrid News
Real Madrid superstar chasing Alfredo Di Stefano’s record as he takes a leadership role
The new season is just around the corner with Real Madrid set to take on Espanyol in their season opener later this evening.
It will be an important game for Vinicius Jr., who is heading into the new season with a fresh contract renewal and a leadership position, with the Brazilian serving as the club’s second captain.
Aside from being a captain, Vinicius is also the most senior player in the Real Madrid team right now, in terms of appearances for the club.
Chasing Di Stefano’s record
As reported by MARCA, Vinicius enters the season having played 375 matches for Real Madrid, a tally that makes him the most experienced player in the current squad.
That is just 21 short of Alfredo Di Stefano’s legendary total, a milestone the Brazilian is likely to approach before the turn of the year given his consistent game time under successive managers.
The Brazilian international has outlasted the likes of Sergio Ramos, Casemiro, Karim Benzema, Toni Kroos and Luka Modric, all of whom departed the club since Vini arrived eight years ago.
Now the second captain, the explosive forward has actually featured more than the two other captains in the team in Federico Valverde and Thibaut Courtois.
More records on the horizon
Should Vinicius see out his new contract, which runs until 2032, the numbers become even more staggering.
Based on his average of 47 appearances per season, projections suggest he could finish his Real Madrid career with 657 matches, a tally surpassed by only four players in the club’s history: Raul, Iker Casillas, Manolo Sanchis and Sergio Ramos.
His goalscoring record is similarly impressive. Vinicius is already the top scorer in the current squad with 127 goals, comfortably ahead of Kylian Mbappe’s 86 in just two seasons.
At his current average of 16 goals per campaign, he is projected to finish with 223, which would rank seventh on Real Madrid’s all-time list,
For now, Vinicius’ focus will be to get Real Madrid off to a positive start to the season tonight against Espanyol.
Kylian Mbappe’s blistering start to the season has already hit its first bump, with the Real Madrid forward’s missed penalty against Real Betis exposing an area of his game that has historically been less reliable.
Mbappe had given Madrid fans plenty of reasons for optimism in the opening weeks.
He scored a hat-trick against Real Sociedad before finding the net again against Malaga, making it four goals across his first three matches of the season.
The performance against Betis, though, was a different story.
Mbappe struggled to make the same impact and then missed an injury-time penalty, with Alvaro Valles making the save as Madrid eventually suffered a 0-1 defeat.
Mbappe’s penalty numbers make uncomfortable reading
Mbappe’s latest miss adds to a record that is far from elite when compared with some of Real Madrid’s previous specialists.
Including the Betis penalty, Mbappe has now missed 16 of the 81 penalties he has taken during his career, excluding shoot-outs. That represents a failure rate of 19.7%.
His numbers with Real Madrid are even less convincing, having converted 19 of 24 penalties for the club, meaning his miss rate stands at 20.8%, effectively one missed penalty in every five attempts.
Mbappe’s record compared with Madrid legends
The comparison with Real Madrid’s previous penalty takers provides better context.
Cristiano Ronaldo missed only 13 of his 92 penalties, giving him a miss rate of 14.1%. Sergio Ramos was considerably more dependable, missing just one of his 23 attempts, which is a rate of 4.3%.
All three sets of figures exclude penalty shoot-outs, making the comparison more relevant to normal match situations.
Mbappe therefore has work to do if he is to reach the level of reliability expected from a team’s primary penalty taker.
Sure, his overall goalscoring numbers remain outstanding, but penalties are an important part of that production.
Mourinho should keep faith with Mbappe
Meanwhile, there is little reason for Jose Mourinho or the Real Madrid dressing room to lose confidence in Mbappe because of one miss on matchday four.
His opening performances, particularly the hat-trick against Real Sociedad, provide ample evidence of his quality, and the greater concern may be psychological rather than tactical.
Mbappe’s confidence from the spot will be worth watching, especially because of what he is chasing this season.
The Ballon d’Or, Pichichi and Golden Boot are all among his ambitions, and penalties offer a valuable route towards the goals required for those prizes.
