Real Madrid superstar Rodrygo Goes has become something of a forgotten man to the average mainstream fan, if they even gave the forward his proper due in the first place.
The 2021/22 Champions League hero was left off the “BMV” nickname by the Spanish press, who made him a footnote to Kylian Mbappe, Jude Bellingham, and Vinicius Junior.
Meanwhile, the 23-year-old was snubbed from the 30-man list of 2023/24 Ballon d’Or finalists, leading even Barcelona legend Rivaldo to call out the disgrace of this snub, which left many current and former stars baffled.
Well, Rodrygo is letting his play on the pitch do the talking, as he’s started the 2024/25 LaLiga season off as a man on a mission, and the same holds true for his start to the Champions League campaign.
He recorded the opening assist in Real Madrid’s 3-1 win over Bundesliga upstarts VfB Stuttgart, and the assist makes it 12 in his career in the Champions League, having made his debut in the competition in the 2019/20 season.
That 12th assist now puts Rodrygo Goes above countryman Ronaldinho, a former Barcelona legend who had 11 career Champions League assists and is known as one of the greatest playmakers of all time.
Does that mean Rodrygo is a better player than Ronaldinho? Absolutely not. But it does mean that the 23-year-old is quietly building a legendary legacy of his own for Real Madrid that needs to be respected a lot more than it is.
The managing editor of The Trivela Effect, Kevin has 15 years of experience in digital media. He covered Real Madrid from 2019-2022 for The Real Champs as a site manager. His work has been featured in ESPN, Bleacher Report, Yahoo! Sports, NBC Sports, and other major outlets. You can contact him at the site’s official Twitter handle @TrivelaEffect or via the site’s official email thetrivelaeffect@gmail.com.