Real Madrid left winger Vinicius Junior had himself another fantastic year, winning LaLiga and the Champions League for the third and second time in his career, respectively.
The fleet-footed Brazilian has become the main creative and secondary goal-scoring threat for Real Madrid, providing the Merengue club with his best performances in the Champions League.
This past season, Vinicius Jr. scored 6 goals with 4 assists in 10 Champions League appearances, averaging exactly a goal contribution per game in world football’s premier competition.
He also averaged 3.7 dribbles completed, 1.9 key passes, and 1.4 fouls drawn in the Champions League, adding a further 15 goals and 5 assists across 26 LaLiga appearances (22 starts).
It was a banner year for Vinicius Jr., whose sheer quality in the Champions League made him the Ballon d’Or favorite, as he proved without a shadow of a doubt that on the biggest stage of club football, he is head and shoulders above the rest, including the superstars of Manchester City and Bayern Munich – two clubs he eliminated en route to a triumph in the final over Borussia Dortmund.
And yet FC25 doesn’t think Vinicius Jr. is the best player in the world or even tied among the three best male players in the world rated 91, with Real Madrid fans incensed at the rating of 90 despite the fact that he outperformed everyone ranked above him in the 2023/24 season.
Manchester City striker Erling Haaland and Real Madrid teammate Kylian Mbappe, who had a mediocre European Championship and floundered against Dortmund in the Champions League semifinals, were both rated 91 above Vini Jr. and fellow Madrid Ballon d’Or favorite Jude Bellingham.
Another Man City star, defensive midfielder Rodri, was also rated higher than Vinicius Jr., and he is among the Ballon d’Or candidates after winning the Premier League and European Championship with Spain.
However, Real Madrid fans are especially frustrated to see Rodri above Vinicius Jr., as it is very rare for a defensive midfielder, center back, or fullback to get a rating above 90, much less a rating above a forward regarded as the best player in the world.
Vini Jr. has registered 10 goal contributions or more in each of the past three Champions League campaigns, winning two of them as the decisive player in those finals against Liverpool and Dortmund.
Rodri is an amazing player, but it is very sudden for him to be regarded as the best player in the world, especially as a defensive midfielder. And he didn’t even have a better Champions League campaign than Vini Jr.’s Real Madrid teammate Toni Kroos.
Vinicius Jr. is one of the biggest superstars in the game and the most exciting player to watch, yet it is remarkable how so many mainstream awards, often with a Premier League bias, leave him behind for players he repeatedly outshines in the Champions League.
